Month: July 2020

Pope graduate earns bachelor’s degree from KSU in three years

by

Pope High School graduate Angie Jackson

Submitted information about a Pope High School graduate who recently earned a bachelor’s degree from Kennesaw State University with honors, and in only three years, and will soon be seeking a master’s in accounting:

Angie Jackson gained the foothold she wanted at Kennesaw State by keeping busy and taking advantage of opportunities during her undergraduate experience – and she did it with intense determination.

Jackson, an Honors student who officially graduates this week, earned a position as a trumpeter with the Marching Owls, studied abroad in Italy, joined two professional fraternities, and completed two internships – all while earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting in just three years.

A Zell Miller Scholarship recipient, Jackson was a trumpeter with her high school band. She said that her interest in attending Kennesaw State began when she was exposed to the University’s Marching Owls.

“Our school was undergoing construction, and KSU let us practice at their indoor band facility during our summer band camp,” said Jackson who graduated from Pope High School in Cobb County, Georgia. “When I saw the University and the Marching Owls, I knew that this was the place I wanted to be.”

While Jackson was focused on getting her degree, she also knew that she wanted to be active in campus life. She immediately auditioned for and earned a spot with the Marching Owls, and was section leader for two of her three years with the band. Her love of music also drew her to Sigma Alpha Iota, a professional women’s music fraternity, where she served as the philanthropy chair.

Zeroing in on the right major took her a little longer.

“I’m one of those people who loves all subjects, because I love to learn,” Jackson said. “While I knew I wanted to do something in business, I also knew I wanted something specific to focus on and that eventually led me to accounting.”

As an accounting major, the determined Jackson put her energy into networking opportunities. She became a member of the honors organization for accounting, finance and information systems majors, Beta Alpha Psi.  She also attended KSU Career Fairs where she quickly secured her first internship in the accounting department of WarnerMedia as one of 12 interns.

“I got a lot of great experience there learning about invoicing and vendor relationships. I even had the opportunity to conduct training for new hires on some of the systems I was familiar with, which I really enjoyed,” she said.

WarnerMedia, however, wasn’t the only company to offer an internship to Jackson, and she said that she was shocked and excited that she was able to line up two internships within one recruitment season. The second firm, Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors, extended an internship offer to Jackson a year out for the 2020 spring semester.

Professor of Information Systems Adriane Randolph is one of Jackson’s professors and said that she isn’t surprised by the student’s success. “Angie gives 100 percent to all of her vigorous commitments while maintaining top marks across her coursework. She loves to learn and goes the extra mile whenever possible, and she will undoubtedly be successful in pursuing her future goals.”

In the fall, Jackson, who earned a $10,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, will make the transition to the Master of Accountancy program in the Coles College of Business. Meanwhile, her job prospects are already set for next summer as she’ll return to Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors as a business assurance staff accountant.  

“I really didn’t think there were going to be that many opportunities at KSU, but once I joined the Marching Band, I made so many friendships and connections that will last a lifetime. It opened my world to so much, and I knew that I was where I was supposed to be,” Jackson said. “I feel like I had four years of college in three years with all that I did, and I feel very fortunate to stay at KSU for my master’s degree.”

Send Us Your News!

Let East Cobb News know what your organization is doing, or share news about what people are doing in the community—accomplishments, recognitions, milestones, etc.

Pass along your details to: editor@eastcobbnews.com, and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.

Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.

We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file. Of course, send us links that are relevant to your message so we can direct people to your website.

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

East Cobb COVID-19 Update: 50 deaths, nearly 2,000 cases

by
East Cobb COVID Update
To view the ZIP Code hover map, click here. Source: Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

The number of people in East Cobb ZIP Codes who’ve died from the COVID-19 virus has reached 50, as the total of positive cases approaches 2,000.

The latest figures from Cobb and Georgia public health agencies show a slower increase in those figures in East Cobb than other parts of the county and the state.

Cobb and Douglas Public Health has been compiling confirmed case and death totals by ZIP Code, and here’s the latest for those in East Cobb, which has 1,904 confirmed cases as of Thursday:

  • 30067: 570 cases, 10 deaths
  • 30062: 553 cases, 12 deaths
  • 30066: 447 cases, 11 deaths
  • 30068: 300 cases, 17 deaths
  • 30075: 34 cases, 0 deaths

Of those 50 deaths in East Cobb, 23 took place in long-term care homes, according to mapping data provided by the Cobb County government GIS unit, which also tracks ZIP Code data.

The spike in Georgia and Cobb cases is occurring the most in younger population brackets—the 20-29 age group in Cobb has the most positive cases, 2,910 in all, out of 9,218 total cases countywide.

Those trends are similar across the state.

Cobb reported a single-day high of 414 new cases on Thursday.

Testing continues to ramp up in Cobb County and around the state. Cobb and Douglas Public Health reports that it has administered 22,866 COVID tests at Jim Miller Park, and that 7.12 percent of those tests have been positive.

That’s lower than a few weeks ago, when the test positivity rate reached around 13 percent for a while; before the spike, that figure was around 5 percent.

The data doesn’t indicate how many positive tests may be for people who are asymptomatic.

Cobb’s case count is fourth-highest in Georgia, trailing Fulton, Gwinnett and DeKalb counties. Cobb’s death count is 274, the second-highest in the state behind Fulton’s 356.

The ZIP Code data doesn’t include the age of death. Across Cobb, 216 of Cobb’s deaths have been people ages 70 and older (87 from ages 70-79, 83 from ages 80-89, and 46 who were age 90 and older), according to Cobb GIS figures (click here to click through the county’s COVID resource hub).

A total of 58 people between ages 18-69 have died; no fatalities have been reported under the age of 18.

The racial breakdowns for fatalities in Cobb are 157 whites, 94 blacks, and 23 others. More women than men have died (139 to 133), and of those who have died, at least 223 have had other underlying health issues. Another 20 did not, and 31 were unknown.

Some additional ZIP Code data regarding the race and gender of confirmed COVID cases is being compiled by the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, and you can find a hover map by clicking here.

Another data tracker, Amber Schmidtke of Atlanta, is a public health educator who tracks state and national COVID numbers and analyzes them in a daily e-mail newsletter.

As of 3 p.m. Thursday, there were 156,588 COVID cases in Georgia, an increase of 4,286 from Wednesday, and 3,369 deaths, 25 more than Wednesday. The deaths indicated by the Georgia Department of Public Health are by the day they are reported, not the date of death.

An independent tracking site, covid-georgia.com, has additional information about cases by county and notes trends in cases, deaths, hospitalizations and testing. There are also fatality breakdowns by date of death and the dates deaths are reported.

Related Content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Bradley’s Bar and Grill closed until Saturday due to COVID case

by

East Cobb restaurants opening, Bradley's Bar and Grill

UPDATE: The restaurant announced Saturday that it has reopened.

Another East Cobb restaurant is shutting down temporarily after a positive COVID case, this from a customer. Here’s the message sent out shortly after noon Thursday by Bradley’s Bar and Grill (4961 Lower Roswell Road):

One of our customers has tested positive for Covid-19. So today (Thursday) and Friday (July 24) we will be closed for extensive disinfecting and cleaning of the entire restaurant. Unless you hear otherwise, we will open for regular business on Saturday.

A few other East Cobb restaurants also closed temporarily in recent weeks after employees tested positive, including Drift Fish House and Paradise Grille. They reopened after a few days. The two Moxie Burger restaurants in East Cobb and Moxie Taco were closed a bit longer, also due to a positive COVID employee test.

Moxie Burger at Paper Mill Village has reopened its dining room, as has Moxie Taco, also at Paper Mill Village. The Shallowford Road and Roswell locations of Moxie Burger are offering curbside and to-go menu items.

Related Content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Railroad crossing repairs to close part of Shallowford Road next week

by

Shallowford Road closed

From Cobb DOT, a heads-up if you drive in this area:

Shallowford Road will be closed to thru traffic between Maybreeze Road and Canton Road from 6 p.m. on 7/28 to noon on 7/29 with the actual point of full closure being the railroad crossing located east of Canton Road to allow for rebuilding the crossing. This work is dependent on weather conditions and may delayed 24 hours if rain persists, however, closure times will remain the same.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb high school marching bands won’t compete this fall

by

Walton Band Garage Sale

Marching band directors for the 16 high schools in the Cobb County School District announced Wednesday they would not be competing in band contests during the fall.

The directors issued a joint announcement (see below) that they also “affirmed our commitment to providing quality marching band activities for the 2020–2021 school year.”

John Palmer, the director of bands at Walton High School, said in a social media message that “in the current climate we do not feel we could safely put the time or financial resources into fielding a competitive show.”

Another factor, is said, was that Bands of America had cancelled its competitions on Tuesday.

The joint letter said that face-to-face rehearsals also would be discontinued for the time being, as the Cobb school district is starting the school year online-only.

“When circumstances allow, our bands will still engage in marching activity in conjunction with the Georgia High School Association football season. Should conditions and opportunities allow, we encourage programs to explore alternative marching arts activities for our students.”

The GSHA voted Monday to push back the start of football season by two weeks, to the first week in September.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last week that most extracurricular activities would be cancelled to start the school year, but that athletics would continue.

The band directors also said any band activities would be all-virtual in accordance with the Cobb school district’s fine arts and the Georgia Music Educators Association guidance.

Related Content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case scheduled for September

by

Sprayberry Crossing revisions

The Sprayberry Crossing plans for a mixed-use development have been filed with the Cobb Zoning Office, and they’re scheduled to be heard in September.

A rezoning application filed earlier this month (you can read it here) indicates that the Sprayberry Crossing Partnership wants to keep the neighborhood shopping (NS) and planned shopping center (PSC) categories and also is applying for what’s called a redevelopment overlay district (ROD) designation.

That means means that the kind of development contained within that district shall not establish a precedent for future land use or rezoning matters in the nearby area.

The nearly 18 acres at East Piedmont Road and Sandy Plains Road has been blighted for years, and is listed on the county’s redevelopment list, as residents have pushed for cleanup and redevelopment.

Atlantic Residential, an Atlanta-based apartment builder, is planning 178 apartment units, 122 senior apartments and 50 for-sale townhomes to go with a 30,000-square foot national grocery store (still unnamed by the developer, which is in negotiations), other retail and co-working space, an entertainment and food hall and community greenspace.

Earlier this month Atlantic Residential president Richard Aaronson held a virtual town hall meeting to explain the plans (more details here), which have been revised to include five-story buildings for the rental units, up from 3-4 stories earlier.

The meeting and discussions within the community have been facilitated by the creators of the Sprayberry Crossing Acition Group on Facebook and that has around 5,700 members.

The community is largely single-family residential, and that’s brought out some opposition from those opposed to apartments, even with the possible ROD designation.

(Here’s the ROD application, and while it’s a whopping 86 pages, much of that is detailed descriptions of property. The developer has hired prominent Cobb zoning attorney Kevin Moore.)

Tim Carini of Residents Against Apartments at Sprayberry Crossing told East Cobb News he still thinks the density of the project is too much, as are five-story buildings. “I want the suburbs and not an urban feel,” he said.

He’s also concerned that Atlantic Residential could eventually sell the development, as it has with a previous property it built in Johns Creek, and that the proposed townhomes at Sprayberry Crossing might also end up being rentals.

Joe Glancy of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Group said he’s still learning about the ROD aspect to the zoning and expects that “the site plan will continue to evolve through the [rezoning] process.”

Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she’s planning on holding a town hall meeting in virtual form before the rezoning cases are heard, likely in August, but hasn’t scheduled a date.

The Cobb Planning Commission will hear the case on Sept. 1 and make a recommendation to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which meets on Sept. 15.

Related content

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

New Wellstar Kennestone Emergency Department opens Thursday

by

Wellstar Kenestone Emergency Department
At the new Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Emergency Department ribbon-cutting on July 16 are, L-R: Otis Brumby III, Wellstar Health System Board of Trustees Chair; First Lady of Georgia Marty Kemp; Governor of Georgia Brian P. Kemp; Candice L. Saunders, president and CEO of Wellstar Health System; and Mary Chatman, EVP of Wellstar Health System and president of Wellstar Kennestone and Windy Hill Hospitals.

On Thursday the new $126 million Wellstar Kennestone Emergency Center opens to the public, more than two years after construction began.

Last week Gov. Brian Kemp was on-hand for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 263,000-square-foot facility, which can handle up to 600 patients a day and 220,000 patients a year.

Here are a few of the features of the new center:

  • Separate entrances and wings for pediatric and adult patients 
  • A new, streamlined care initiation intake process 
  • Private exam rooms instead of curtain dividers, with adjacent PPE don/doff rooms 
  • Flexible spaces equipped to treat both high and low acuity cases 
  • Planned spaces and processes for de-escalation, isolation and decontamination for patients who present with infectious disease, behavioral health, or chemical contamination issues 
  • A second floor dedicated to behavioral health with 12 beds for specialized behavioral health and crisis intervention services 
  • Three separate ambulance bays for different levels of patient severity, with parking for up to 17 ambulances 
  • 14 negative pressure rooms 
  • Direct access to the high acuity/trauma care area from the rooftop helipad via an elevator 
  • Improved vehicular access for patients and emergency vehicles, and an on-site underground parking garage for patient drop-off 
  • Imaging rooms directly adjacent to trauma rooms 
  • Additional critical care equipment, technology and more 

The new center is one of three Level II trauma centers in metro Atlanta, and has 170 parking spaces. Access is from Cherokee Street. More information can be found here.

Wellstar Kennestone Emergency Department

Wellstar Kennestone Emergency Department

Wellstar Kennestone Emergency Department

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan public hearings, adoption scheduled

by

Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan public hearings

We noted in late April about a review period for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan that’s been in development for the last couple of years, and now public hearings have been scheduled in August.

The plan covers all aspects of community development, including land use, greenspace, transportation and stormwater management.

What’s called the JOSH Small-Area Plan (here’s a storymap produced for the review period) will be presented next month to the Cobb Planning Commission and the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is set to adopt the plan.

The Planning Commission will hear the plan presentation at its Aug. 4 meeting. Like the zoning cases it hears, the board will make a recommendation to county commissioners, who also will hear the plan and are scheduled to vote on adoption on Aug. 25.

After multiple public meetings and written feedback, Cobb government staff released a draft of the master plan proposal last summer.

The process has been similar to the Johnson Ferry Design Guidelines and the Powers Ferry Master Plan in East Cobb in recent years.

The master plan proposal for JOSH stresses the heavy single-family residential nature of the community, and provides several possible scenarios for the major developmental issue in the area—the redevelopment of the area around Maddox Lake, at the southwestern corner of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection.

That’s a 30-acre assemblage for rezoning that went before the Cobb Board of Commissioners as a proposed townhome and single-family residential development before the request was withdrawn in early 2017.

The options presented in the JOSH storymap include redevelopment as a community park and stormwater management facility, with multi-family residential and some retail and restaurant space.

Related stories

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb commissioners to hold budget hearing; consider CARES funding

by

Cobb proposed FY 2021 budget

After the Cobb Board of Commissioners holds public hearings Tuesday night on the proposed fiscal year 2021 budget, they’ll consider several proposals for county CARES Act funding for small business grants and for homeowners.

The budget public hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, and you can watch on the county government’s Facebook Live page or on Channel 23, Cobb TV, on Comcast.

The full agenda for the public hearings and other items can be found here.

The two public hearings will allow for public comment on the proposed budget and proposed millage rate.

Because the county is expecting additional revenues due to a rise in the Cobb tax digest and a “rollback” millage rate is not being proposed, that’s considered a tax increase and the public hearings must be held.

The proposed general fund budget of $473 million doesn’t include a merit raise for county employees and would use reserve funds and reduce capital expenses to reach a balance. The property tax millage would not go up.

After the hearings are concluded, commissioners will be considering items related to the federal CARES Act, money appropriated by Congress to local governments to address the economic fallout from COVID-19.

Cobb received $132 million in CARES Act funding, and has spent nearly $70 million of that total.

The biggest chunk so far is $50 million for small business emergency grants to be administered through Select Cobb, the economic development arm of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce.

On Tuesday commissioners will consider two proposals by commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb to amend a memorandum of understanding for the business grants. Initially, recipients could not already have received funding through the federal Paycheck Protection Act.

But agenda item information indicates that of the 2,078 applicants for the county CARES funding, 72 percent of them have received some federal funding, either through PPP or Small Business Administration CARES Act funds.

Ott’s proposal would allow SelectCobb to award Cobb CARES grants to businesses who’ve received other federal money, and revise certain funding tiers. A list of businesses recommended for the additional funding starts on page 12 of the agenda.

Commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb also is proposing to use $5.7 million in county CARES funding for one-time grants of up to $4,800 for homeowners who’ve gone back to work but need assistance making mortgage payments. For homeowners still out of work, she’s proposing a combination of financial and counseling assistance.

The grants would be administered by HomeFree-USA, a non-profit that helps people build and sustain home ownership.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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 high school football season delayed until early September

by

High school football teams planning to kick off their 2020 seasons in late August will have to wait until early September.GHSA logo, Walton and Pope volleyball, East Cobb swimmers

The Georgia High School Association’s board of trustees voted Monday to delay the start of the season by two weeks, to Sept. 4, due to precautions and safety measures related to COVID-19.

The standard 10-game regular season for teams will be maintained, along with the same five-week playoff format. Teams can begin their preseason conditioning workouts on July 27.

The trustees also ruled that seasons in volleyball, cross country and flag football, the other sports GHSA sponsors, can start on schedule.

Preseason practices in those sports and football can begin on Aug. 1.

The GHSA action gives also local school districts the authority to cancel sports seasons. According to the meeting minutes, there was discussion that Atlanta Public Schools might have called off all sports if there hadn’t been a delay.

A Walton High School parent, Amy Henry, addressed the trustees “about the importance of sports to kids in high school and how the benefits of playing sports outweighed the risks associated with Covid 19,” according to the minutes.

An initial vote not to delay the start of football season failed and another vote for a two-week delay was unanimous.

In announcing an online-only start to the school year, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said last week that most extracurricular activities are being cancelled. But varsity athletics are continuing, and that he would be following guidance from the GHSA.

The football season was to have started on the weekend of Aug. 21. Instead, here’s how the opening weekend will look like for East Cobb teams:

  • Sept. 4: River Ridge at Lassiter
  • Sept. 4: North Atlanta at Wheeler
  • Sept. 4: Riverwood at Sprayberry
  • Sept. 5: Kell vs. Walton (Corky Kell Classic, Mill Creek HS)

The Pope football season was to have started on Aug. 28. Instead, the Greyhounds will play their season opener at Walton on Sept. 11.

Related Content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Flying Biscuit, McCray’s Tavern opening soon in East Cobb

by

Flying Biscuit East Cobb

Two new restaurants at Parkaire Landing Shopping Center were in the planning stages as the COVID-19 outbreak unfolded, and those preparations are still continuing for what are forthcoming openings.

No dates have been announced as yet for the opening of the Flying Biscuit Cafe and McCray’s Tavern.

A Flying Biscuit representative told us that “we’ve had some construction delay due to Covid. We should have a tentative date soon.”

The Atlanta-based breakfast and lunch chain announced nearly a year ago that it was coming back to East Cobb, after closing its location at Woodlawn Commons in 2010.

The Parkaire Landing location, located next to Kroger, was to have opened in the spring, along with a few other new Flying Biscuit additions in metro Atlanta and Athens.

On the other end of the retail center, in the former Loyal Q/Loyal Tavern space, McCray’s Tavern is continuing opening plans, but there’s also no other timeline they’re reporting for now except to say it’s “very, very soon.”

It will be the East Cobb debut for the Atlanta-based tavern group, which recently opened Mac’s Chophouse in the former Shillings on the Square in downtown Marietta.

McCray’s is interviewing for all positions Wednesday and Thursday from 3-7 p.m. and on Friday from 10 a.m. to  2 p.m.

More details about that on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Andrew McDonough, the East Cobb restaurant’s general manager, told East Cobb News that training for staff members is continuing this week, along with additional hiring.

He said additional sanitizing, virus testing and safety training is part of the opening plans, but he wasn’t ready to say when a hard opening would take place.

Related Content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Delta Community CU accepting philanthropic fund entries

by

Delta Community philanthropic fund
Cobb-based Tommy Nobis Center is a past winner of a Delta Community Philanthropic Fund grant, receiving $10,000 for its Early Youth Employment Services program, which offers job and life skills training to special needs students throughout metro Atlanta.

Submitted information and photos:

Delta Community Credit Union (www.DeltaCommunityCU.com), Georgia’s largest credit union with $6.8 billion in assets, has begun accepting applications for its 2021 Philanthropic Fund grant program.

Throughout 2021, the program will distribute a total of $125,000 to 20 non-profit organizations committed to the health and well-being of young people and financial literacy and education, including programs focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEM/STEAM).

Since its inception, the Delta Community Philanthropic Fund has invested $630,000 in 148 non-profit organizations that offer education, career training, and health and human services to tens of thousands of people in metro Atlanta.

“We have seen, first-hand, the positive impact these worthwhile organizations make in the lives of individuals, children and families,” said Delta Community CEO Hank Halter. “As our Philanthropic Fund enters its eighth year, we remain committed to investing in initiatives that support education and the physical and financial health of those who live in the communities we are privileged to serve.”

The application window for the 2021 Delta Community Philanthropic Fund closes Aug. 31, 2020 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Applications must be submitted via the online portal at www.DeltaCommunityCU.com/PhilanthropicFund.

In addition to its Philanthropic Fund, Delta Community invests in local communities through school sponsorships, scholarship programs, and support of chambers of commerce, industry partners and civic organizations.

Delta Community philanthropic fund
Delta Community’s Hank Halter, CEO and Reina Short, Community Development Manager; Dave Ward, CEO of the Tommy Nobis Center; Monica Oliveiro, Nobis Center Development Specialist.

Delta Community philanthropic fund
Delta Community CEO Hank Halter and Community Development Manager Reina Short; MUST Ministries’ Dr. Ike Reigherd, Don Crampton and Yvonne Byars.

Send Us Your News!

Let East Cobb News know what your organization is doing, or share news about what people are doing in the community—accomplishments, recognitions, milestones, etc.

Pass along your details to: editor@eastcobbnews.com, and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.

Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.

We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file. Of course, send us links that are relevant to your message so we can direct people to your website.

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb Chamber CEO, President Sharon Mason gets contract extension

by

Submitted information about Sharon Mason, an East Cobb resident who’s getting a three-year extension as president and CEO of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce:Sharon Mason, Cobb Chamber of Commerce

Today [July 14], the Cobb Chamber Board of Directors announced to extend the terms of the organization’s President and CEO Sharon Mason employment agreement for another three years, through December 2023.

“Since her start as President & CEO in January 2018, Sharon Mason has been leading the Cobb Chamber to achieve its desired vision to be a catalyst for innovative solutions, and create healthy conditions for business. In just three years, Sharon has led the Chamber through the sale of its 35-year-old building and its move to the 10th floor of 1100 Circle 75 Parkway, the expansion of programming, including the launch of the International Council, Workforce Target Industry Councils, and Marquee Monday, a rebrand, and record membership growth,” said John Loud, 2020 Cobb Chamber Chairman and President of LOUD Security Systems. “I have worked closely with Sharon for the past 15 months, and I’ve never worked with someone so committed to their job, to the people they manage, and to the Chamber’s mission to nurturing an environment where businesses can prosper.”

As President and CEO, she leads the Chamber’s efforts to create jobs, strengthen the economy and quality of life for businesses and the community while building Cobb County’s reputation regionally, nationally and beyond. With the Board of Directors moving forward with her contract extension five months before it was set to expire is a vote of confidence regarding Mason’s outstanding job performance.

“Serving this Chamber and our community as its President and CEO is an honor,” says Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “I am so proud of what we’ve accomplished together with our Board of Directors and chamber team. Now, more than ever, Cobb’s businesses need our organization. We are here to help businesses find their way forward through this time of uncertainty and into the future. I look forward to continue working with our Board of Directors and staff to advance our economy forward.”

Mason has more than 18 years of chamber of commerce experience, including at the Cobb Chamber starting in 2005 and the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce prior. She has held varying leadership positions of increasing importance. Prior to her selection as CEO, Mason served as the Cobb Chamber’s COO in 2013 to 2017.

Mason is a Georgia native and an active member of the community including serving on the Regional Business Coalition Executive Committee, Council for Quality Growth Board of Directors, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital Regional Board, Children’s Healthcare Cobb Community Board, IgniteHQ Board, Cobb County School District Superintendent Advisory Committee, and the Georgia Chamber’s Resiliency and Recovery Task Force. In 2018, she was named by Governor Deal to the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Board (GRTA) and continues to serve on this board. She also is a Marietta Rotary member and was Foundation Director in 2015-2016, is a past president of Friends for the East Cobb Park non-profit (2012-2013), and served on MUST Ministries Board of Directors from 2014-2019. Mason is a graduate of Chamber Institute for Organizational Management (2011), Leadership Cobb (2012), Regional Leadership Institute (2014), Honorary Commanders (2015), Leadership Atlanta (2018) and is active in these alumni associations.

In 2019 and 2020, Mason was named to Georgia Trend’s Top 100 Most Influential Georgians, Top 100 Most Influential Women in Georgia by Engineering Magazine and Atlanta 500 Most Influential list. In 2020, she was named by James Magazine to the Most Influential Georgians list. She was also named to liveSAFE Resources Academy of Women Leaders in 2015 and Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark in 2019.

Mason received her bachelor’s from Samford University. She lives in East Cobb with her husband and middle school daughter. They are active at East Cobb Church.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb school board adopts tentative budget; final vote in August

by

The Cobb Board of Education has a adopted a tentative fiscal year budget of $1.3 billion that will not include pay cuts or furloughs for teachers and staff.

Chris Ragsdale, Cobb schools superintendent, Cobb school employee pay raise
Chris Ragsdale, Cobb schools superintendent

It’s the first step toward formal budget adoption in August, three months later than usual.

That’s because of delays in state funding since the Georgia legislative session was delayed due to COVID-19.

Nearly half of Cobb County School District funding comes from the state, which is cutting that amount this year by $62 million.

The district’s proposed budget includes a step increase for all eligible staff members. (You can read through budget overview information here).

“Now more than ever, our staff who have responded successfully and professionally to each obstacle they have encountered over the past several months, need to know that we are there to support them. They are our first priority because they make our students their first priority,” Cobb schools superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in a statement.

The school board also will be holding the property tax rate at 18.9 mills, which has stayed the same for nearly two decades.

The budget proposal would include using $31 million in reserve funds to help offset the state budget cuts. Funding under Georgia’s Quality Basic Education Act is expected to be $518 million.

Local property tax digest growth of 5.15 percent will yield an additional $48 million in revenue (for a total of ($541 million); therefore the district must conduct public hearings for what under state law is considered a property tax increase.

(More financials, including line-item details, can be found here in what’s called the budget popular report.)

Cobb schools FY 2021 budget

Cobb schools also received nearly $16 million in CARES Act funding from the Georgia Department of Education, and this week was granted $8.1 million from the Cobb Board of Commissioners in more CARES Act funding for distance learning content.

Charisse Davis, one of three Democrats on the board and who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, advocates revisiting the Cobb senior tax exemption and closing some loopholes.

On Thursday she asked for information not included in the budget proposal that revealed that this year the senior tax exemption is worth $132 million, up from $122.7 million in 2019, $111.9 million in 2018, and $101.1 million in 2017.

However, she’s been unable to get the board’s Republican majority to consider the matter. Some of them favor working to change the state’s educational “Fair Share” formula, under which school districts must send the amount of 5 mills from their local property tax revenues to the state.

The Cobb school district said for FY 2021 that Fair Share amount is $166 million.

The Cobb school board is to hold one more public hearing on the budget, on Aug. 20, the same day it formally adopts it.

In the meantime, the board also approved on Thursday a spending resolution to fund operations for the month of August, with revenues of $107 million and expenses of $111 million.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Corky Kell Classic changes relocate site for Kell-Walton opener

by

Earlier this week organizers of the Corky Kell Classic announced that some of the games in the season-opening week of the Georgia high school football season will be moving away from Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.Corky Kell Classic changes

That includes the East Cobb matchup between Kell and Walton that’s scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 22.

Instead of playing at the home of the Falcons, the Longhorns and Raiders would be squaring off at Mill Creek High School in Gwinnett County.

Corky Kell organizers made the change due to social distancing and sanitizing concerns at the NFL stadium.

We say “would” because the Georgia High School Association, which oversees high school athletics in the state, is monitoring preseason workouts that continue on Monday.

They’ve limited high school football teams according to social distancing and sanitizing guidelines. On Monday, teams will be allowed to practice with helmets, which must be sanitized before and after every practice.

The GHSA board of trustees is meeting Monday to discuss the opening of fall sports. In Georgia, those are football, volleyball, cross country, softball and flag football.

Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday that the school district will start the school year online-only, and many extracurricular activities are being cancelled. He said high school sports are still on for now, but he would be following GHSA guidance.

A total of 11 games at the Corky Kell Classic are scheduled over four days starting Aug. 19. The other locations are at West Forsyth High School, Dacula High School and Barron Stadium in Rome.

The Kell-Walton game is scheduled to kick off five games at Mill Creek on Aug. 22, with a start time of 9 a.m. The only other Cobb school involved, McEachern, will face North Gwinnett in the finale at 9 p.m.

For the last two seasons, the final slate of Corky Kell Classic games had been played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Last year, Walton rallied to defeat Norcross, and Kell edged Mays. For the first time, the Longhorns and Raiders slated to play each other in the event named after the late Wheeler High School coach and administrator.

Related Content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb schools updates details for students needing devices

by

With the start of the school year going online-only, the Cobb County School District has added a way for parents to request devices for students who need them. Cobb County School District, Cobb schools dual enrollment summit

Parents are asked to go to the ParentVUE portal and log in, then click the “Back to School Choice” from the menu bar on the left. From there click “Full Remote” then “My child does not have access to a device, and I am requesting one.”

The district’s special website, Cobb Learning Everywhere, is providing updated information on all aspects of the reopening.

Earlier this week the district received $8.1 million in CARES Act funding from the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will be used to acquire and develop digital curriculum and related content for the existing Cobb Teaching and Learning System portal.

The funds won’t be spent on purchasing devices for students. When school campuses closed in March, the district worked with the Cobb Schools Foundation to provide devices for students who needed them.

At a commissioners work session Monday, Ragsdale said some of the Chrome Books that were provided were not claimed.

But critics of the reopening plans said adequate technology was not provided to students in need, and worried that they would fall further behind.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb school board tables anti-racism resolution for 90 days

by

Cobb school board tables anti-racism resolution

After failing to come to a consensus over a modified anti-racism resolution proposed in June, the Cobb Board of Education is tabling the matter once again.

This time it’s for 90 days, as the board agreed following a lengthy discussion at its work session Thursday.

Board member Randy Scamihorn presented a revised resolution but board members Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard said they could not support it and asked him to withdraw it.

Howard distributed his own version on social media earlier this week (you can read it below) that calls for the Cobb County School District to commit to “actively working against systemic racism and bias” and acknowledges that “systemic racism and racial prejudice” have left a “devastating legacy” in Cobb County.

He also wants the district to undertake “targeted anti-racist programs and policy.”

Scamihorn objected to the phrase “systemic racism” and said Howard’s resolution was “too stark” and not unifying enough.

“I’ve tried to build a positive document,” Scamihorn said, although he didn’t have his version available during the meeting. (We’ve asked for a copy and will post it when we get it.)

Both Howard and Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters are black Democrats; the board’s four-member Republican majority are white.

David Morgan, a black Democrat from South Cobb, kept pushing for a compromise that would get to a 7-0 vote. He said what Scamihorn revised “checked the boxes that would have had my support. I’m an African-American man and I want to get along with everyone.

“We need something to speak to that,” that speaks to all in a school district with 113,000 students and 18,000 teachers and staff.

“Mr. Morgan is optimistic we can come to a consensus, and good Lord, I hope he’s right,” Scamihorn said.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb Senior Citizen Council collects food for elderly people in need

by

Cobb Senior Citizen Council food drive

Submitted information and photos:

Our Senior Citizen Council of Cobb County food drive held at the Cobb Senior Wellness Center on July 8 was a great success! We collected hundreds of pounds of food and paper goods for eligible seniors. Nearly 50 cars dropped off donations. We were pleasantly surprised that lots of people had full trunks to donate, not just one or two bags. The Senior Center said the donations were a godsend since they were running low on food to distribute.

Cobb Senior Citizen Council food drive

Cobb Senior Citizen Council food drive

Cobb Senior Citizen Council food drive

Cobb Senior Citizen Council food drive

Send Us Your News!

Let East Cobb News know what your organization is doing, or share news about what people are doing in the community—accomplishments, recognitions, milestones, etc.

Pass along your details to: editor@eastcobbnews.com, and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.

Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.

We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb delays reopening plans for senior centers due to COVID-19

by

East Cobb Senior Center

From Cobb County government:

Based upon the Governor’s latest executive order and after consultation with public health officials, Cobb County is postponing the planned “soft” reopening of some senior centers on July 20th. Despite rigorous cleaning protocols and social distancing plans in place, the continued rise in coronavirus cases and the Governor’s extension of the Public Health State of Emergency prompted the delay. Senior Services will work with county leaders and Cobb & Douglas Public Health to determine when we may be able to move forward with reopening some of the centers.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!

Cobb schools eye land purchases near Walton HS for $2.65M

by

Walton sports complex land
Source: Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office

The Cobb County School District has announced it intends to acquire property near Walton High School, next to land designated for a new sports complex for the school’s varsity softball and tennis teams.

During a Cobb Board of Education meeting Thursday afternoon, Marc Smith, the district’s Chief Technology and Operations Officer, stated the board’s intent to purchase two land parcels.

They’re 3.5 acres at 1483 Pine Road for $2 million, and 1.2 acres at 3753 Providence Road for $650,000 (indicated by the blue stars on the map above).

The announcement was made after the board emerged from an executive session, where land matters are discussed.

Those parcels are located next to 15.2 acres on Pine Road that the district purchased in November for $3 million (red star), after threatening the property owner, Thelma McClure, with eminent domain.

Smith said the purchase of the additional property is scheduled to be finalized at the board’s August meeting, but he didn’t elaborate. There was no discussion by the board during the brief voting meeting, which followed a nearly-five-hour work session that included the announcement that the new school year would start online-only.

According to Cobb Tax Assessors records, the Pine Road property is owned by Harold and Joan Estes, and has a single-family ranch home built in the early 1960s.

The Providence Road land is owned by Maudelle Gilbert Gibson, and a single-family home there was built in the mid-1970s.

Since 2014, the Walton softball and tennis teams have competed at Terrell Mill Park, giving way to a new classroom building.

Walton softball parents had been lobbying for the new complex, and were considering legal action under Title IX, a federal education sex discrimination law, since the Walton boys’ baseball team has remained on campus.

Funding for the property acquisition comes from Cobb Education SPLOST V revenues. So will construction costs, but those have not been determined.

When it’s finished sports complex will be the final component of a comprehensive rebuild of the Walton campus.

The new classroom building opened in August 2017 at a cost of $48 million, and last fall a new gymnasium and performing arts theatre opened where the original classroom building once stood, with a price tag of $31 million.

Related content

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

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!