Month: December 2020

Top East Cobb 2020 stories: Living in a time of pandemic

by
Cobb small business grant applications
An empty parking lot at The Avenue East Cobb on Sunday, March 15, after a state shelter-in-place order was issued.

A positive case of COVID-19 at Keheley Elementary School on March 11 prompted the first closure in Cobb County related to the Coronavirus outbreak.

It was supposed to be a 14-day closure, but the following day the Cobb County School District announced it was closing all schools until further notice.

That closure lasted through the end of the school year, with virtual instruction only. Students didn’t return to classrooms in Cobb until October, as the virus roared through the county for months, piling up some of the highest case and death figures in Georgia.

The first COVID-19 death took place in Cobb County, and the youngest death took place here as well—a one-year-old boy who had underlying health issues.

In between, more than 36,000 positive COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Cobb, and nearly 600 deaths related to the virus.

On March 14, Gov. Brian Kemp declared a statewide state of emergency that closed many small businesses such as bars, restaurants, personal care salons and arts venues.

More than nine months later, Cobb, like most communities, is still recovering from the economic, educational and social impact of the shutdowns.

Cobb commissioners voted to spend $50 million, the largest chunk of $132 million in federal CARES Act funding to provide relief grants to more than 3,000 small businesses.

East Cobb businesses like Intrigue Salon came up with creative ways to stay connected to their customers while they were closed, providing drive-up pickup of pre-ordered products.

Commissioners also approved funding for local non-profits who provide food and basic living essentials, and for mortgage and rental assistance.

By the early summer, when case numbers began rising again, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce was reluctant to issue a mask mandate. While urging citizens to wear them in public, he said he said he didn’t think he could get his colleagues to go along with it, nor did he want to expend public safety resources to enforce a mandate if they did.

Countless community events were cancelled from March through the end of the year, including the EAST COBBER parade for the first time ever, as well as many venerable holiday craft shows and events in East Cobb.

After Cobb schools began the 2020-21 school year online only—after making plans to start with face-to-face instruction—parents expressed frustration not only with the switch, but also the frequent technology issues at the beginning.

Amy Henry, the mother of four students in the Walton High School cluster, led a public campaign for in-person instruction, saying that “the damage we’re doing to kids [by not being in school] is immense. We’re creating a generation that’s fearful of the world.”

As cases rose again in Cobb in December, the school district finished out the final two days of the fall semester online-only.

In November, the Atlanta Regional Commission released a survey indicating that 13 percent of Cobb residents either had lost jobs or were furloughed since March.

Organizations involved in aiding those affected by the shutdowns have never faced greater challenges, and anticipate providing assistance well into 2021.

As 2020 came to a close, nearly 9,000 COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in East Cobb, with more than 120 deaths.

Before Christmas, Wellstar Kennestone Hospital got its first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines.

On New Year’s Eve, Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Health, said vaccines for first responders and people 65 and older will be available starting Jan. 11.

As 2020 also neared an end, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church announced it would be going ahead with the 33rd running of its Polar Bear Run on Jan. 30.

Like those gatherings that have managed to take place, there will be some differences due to safety protocols.

More: The East Cobb News Coronavirus Resource Page.

More Top East Cobb 2020 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!

New Cobb Commissioner Richardson: ‘So much room for opportunity’

by

New Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson

Promising to “connect Cobb” with a collaborative approach, new District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson took the oath of office Thursday morning embodying the change in political leadership in the county.

The 31-year-old Equifax technology manager made that pledge with her hand on her grandmother’s Bible, and with another new Cobb commissioner, Monique Sheffield, and incoming chairwoman Lisa Cupid, also in attendance at the Cobb Civic Center.

They’ll make up a Democratic majority of African-American women on the five-member Cobb Board of Commissioners, which also will be all-female.

But for Richardson, whose family came to metro Atlanta from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, she spoke of how she wants to represent her adopted home community in broader terms.

“Every time there’s an historical moment, it gives you that opportunity to recalibrate and set a new standard,” Richardson said. “Because everyone has the opportunity to reflect, and there’s so much greatness that comes out of those pauses.”

Those remarks echoed the theme of her first campaign for public office, which touched on what she saw was the need to make connections not just with those in other commissioner districts, but also with Cobb’s cities, local school boards and other components of the community.

Richardson invited outgoing Republican District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott, who is retiring after three terms, to speak.

Before handing her the keys to his office, he said he was he was pleased with “a smooth transition” that’s been taking place since she won the Nov. 3 election.

Although they’re from different parties and have different outlooks on politics, Ott said the citizens of District 2—which stretches from Mabry Park in Northeast Cobb to the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area— “want to see harmony, not political infighting.

“I like to say that potholes do not have parties,” he said. “People don’t care whether you have a D or an R by your name. They just want it fixed.”

Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard said of Richardson, his campaign manager for his 2017 campaign for the state senate: “She thinks big.”

“Imagine if we pushed on the same path, at the same time and in the same direction,” Howard said. “She gets ready to get down and do the work. We need more people like Jerica.”

Former State Sen. Doug Stoner said Richardson represents what has made Cobb dynamic over the years—an infusion of newcomers.

“We need new folks with new ideas and new perspectives,” he said. “It helps Cobb County keep up with a changing world.”

Richardson will be only the third District 2 commissioner. Before Ott’s 12 years in office, Joe Lee Thompson was commissioner for 16 years.

She has formed what she calls a a community advisory cabinet, and she’s taking applications for individuals to serve on boards appointed by commissioners.

Richardson also said she has a list of 14 priorities that she’ll be releasing in detail soon. At the top of that list is a spirit of collaboration, done with the understanding that while the county has had a past that hasn’t been fully inclusive, there has been progress along the way.

“We think of where we’ve been, where we are today and where we want to be,” she said, “and that should be inspirational.

“Reflect on what this means and dream again. Dream of the possibilities. This is our opportunity to set a whole new standard.”

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!

As 2020 nears end, East Cobb COVID-19 cases approach 9,000

by
East Cobb COVID cases
To view details of cases and deaths by ZIP code, click here for a swipe map.

A couple days’ worth of data remains to be added, but the last full week of 2020 saw another big jump of reported cases of COVID-19 in East Cobb.

On Dec. 22 we posted a ZIP Code map update showing 8,038 cases in East Cobb, and 120 deaths, since the pandemic began in March.

According to Commissioner Bob Ott’s latest numbers posted late Tuesday, 795 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since then, and two more deaths:

  • 30062: 2,579 cases, 31 deaths
  • 30066: 2,383, 31 deaths
  • 30067: 2,202 cases, 24 deaths
  • 30068: 1,353 cases, 34 deaths
  • 30075: 306 cases, 2 deaths

A total of 36 deaths have been reported in long-term care facilities.

Those numbers are part of a larger Cobb County total of 36,240 cases and 549 deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The Georgia DPH Daily Status Report also indicates a growing rate of community spread, with a 14-day average of 631 cases per 100,000 people in Cobb County.

A week ago, that number was 601, and it’s much higher than the “high community spread” threshold of a 14-day average of 100 cases per 100,000.

Over the last two weeks, according to Georgia DPH, more than 5,000 new cases have been confirmed in Cobb County, and more than 70,000 across the state.

On Wednesday, 433 more cases were reported in Cobb, according to “date of report.” It’s a metric that includes a backlog of cases, and was punctuated last week by a high-water mark of 611 cases on Dec. 24.

Across Georgia, 5,496 new cases were reported, and 49 new deaths were confirmed on Wednesday.

For the year, there have been 558,177 COVID-19 cases in Georgia and 9,808 deaths.

A more precise indicator for case totals is “date of onset,” or the date when a person reports having COVID symptoms.

That number has been rising sharply in recent weeks as well, with a record 502 cases in Cobb on Dec. 14 and 465 on Dec. 15. That metric comes with a 14-day window, and the 7-day moving average of cases dating back to Dec. 16 is 362, the highest figure recorded since the pandemic began in March.

According to Cobb and Douglas Public Health, 77.4 percent of those in the county with confirmed COVID-19 cases are between the ages of 15-59.

However, the elderly comprise the strong majority of those dying from the virus, with 86.7 percent being 60 and older.

Those 80 and over who have died are 41.8 percent of all the COVID fatalities in Cobb, and 30.1 percent are between 70-79.

According to Ott’s figures, of the 549 Cobb deaths, 460 of those people had known underlying health issues, 57 did not and it was not known whether the other 30 had comorbidities.

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!

Top East Cobb 2020 stories: Cobb schools go virtual as board feuds

by

Cobb school board anti-racism resolution delayed

For several months after the Cobb County School District shut down in March due to COVID-19, the Cobb Board of Education conducted public meetings via Zoom.

It didn’t reduce some existing disagreements among school board members on a number of issues, and the feuding got worse, including over pandemic response.

Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced in July that the school year would start online-only. It didn’t require a board vote.

But the decision set in motion many public conversations before and by the board and elsewhere during the fall semester, which gradually went to optional face-to-face learning before concluding in virtual format only due to rising COVID-19 community spread.

After the George Floyd death in May, the school board was among many elected bodies around the country in drafting an anti-racism resolution. The Cobb Board of Commissioners approved such a measure in June.

But after three attempts, the seven-member school board could not come to a unanimous approval on language in the resolution.

Black Democratic board members Charisse Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, and Jaha Howard of the Campbell and Osborne clusters, insisted on wording that the Cobb school district has had a history of “systemic racism.”

White Republicans David Banks and Randy Scamihorn objected, and said they wouldn’t support a resolution with that language.

As the year wore on, the racial and partisan divide on the board grew larger.

In an October East Cobb News candidate profile, Banks accused Davis and Howard of “trying to make race an issue where it has never been before.” He also said the Cobb school district’s biggest long-term challenge is avoiding the “white flight” of other metro Atlanta school districts.

Davis fired back, charging Banks of “spewing racist trash” and recounting Cobb’s history of segregated schools well into the 1960s.

Banks won a fourth term in November, and Scamihorn and chairman Brad Wheeler were also re-elected, preserving a 4-3 Republican school board majority for the next two years.

A few weeks later that same majority angered Davis and Howard by abolishing a newly formed committee to examine school naming policies.

The committee was to have considered such matters as an ongoing effort to rename Wheeler High School, named after a Confederate general (Davis signed that petition).

Howard, who began taking a knee during the Pledge of Allegiance when the board resumed in-person meetings in September, accused his Republican colleagues of “systemic racism.”

The four Republicans also voted to require a board majority for board members to place items on meeting agendas.

“What are you afraid of?” Davis asked her colleagues before the vote, which went 4-2.

Howard said the matter was no different than when the Republican majority voted in 2019 to prevent board members from offering comments during board meetings.

In December, the board bickered over a $12 million request from Ragsdale to purchase sanitizing products for elementary schools. The four Republicans voted in favor, but Davis and Howard said that was a lot of money to spend on a proof-of-concept basis and that there’s no evidence the new equipment is effective.

More Top East Cobb 2020 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 election audit finds ‘no fraudulent absentee ballots’

by

Cobb absentee ballots

From the Georgia Secretary of State’s office:

After a hand recount and a subsequent machine recount requested by the Trump campaign, a signature audit has again affirmed the original outcome of the November 2020 presidential race in Georgia. A signature match audit in Cobb County found “no fraudulent absentee ballots” and found that the Cobb County Elections Department had “a 99.99% accuracy rate in performing correct signature verification procedures.”

“The Secretary of State’s office has always been focused on calling balls and strikes in elections and, in this case, three strikes against the voter fraud claims and they’re out,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “We conducted a statewide hand recount that reaffirmed the initial tally, and a machine recount at the request of the Trump campaign that also reaffirmed the original tally. This audit disproves the only credible allegations the Trump campaign had against the strength of Georgia’s signature match processes.”

On December 14, 2020, Secretary Raffensperger announced a signature match audit in Cobb County following credible allegations that the process was not followed in the June primaries. The Secretary of State’s Office partnered with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to conduct the audit. Of the 150,431 absentee ballots received by Cobb County elections officials during the November elections, the audit “reviewed 15,118 ABM ballot oath envelopes from randomly selected boxes,” or around 10% of the total. The sample size was originally chosen to meet the 99% confidence threshold.

The audit found “no fraudulent absentee ballots” with a 99% confidence threshold. The audit found that only two ballots should have been identified by Cobb County Elections Officials for cure notification that weren’t. In one case, the ballot was “mistakenly signed by the elector’s spouse,” and in the other, the voter “reported signing the front of the envelope only.” In both cases, the identified voters filled out the ballots themselves.

The absentee ballot envelopes for the audit were “pulled from 30 randomly selected boxes of the accepted ABM ballots and one box identified as accepted Electronic Ballot Delivery ABM ballots.” Each of the boxes that held the ballots were previously “secured in boxes by the Cobb County Elections Department” and were selected by a random number generator.

To conduct the audit, Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), from GBI and SOS were instructed to “analyze and compare the known signatures, markings, and identifying information of the elector as stored in databases with the signature, markings, and identifying information on the elector’s ABM ballot oath envelope.” They looked for “distinctive characteristics and unique qualities … individual attributes of the signature, mark, or other identifying information” to “make a judgment of the validity of the signature on each envelope based on the totality of the documents.”

The LEOs conducting the audit were split “into 18 two-member teams identified as ‘inspection teams’ and two three-member teams identified as ‘investigation teams.’” If the two members of the inspection team were split on whether a ballot signature was valid, a third impartial “referee” was brought in to break the tie. This only happened on six occasions.

In cases where additional review was necessary, if no signature was on the ballot, or if additional identification documents were not available, the absentee ballots were given to the investigation teams to track down more information.

The inspection teams submitted 396 envelopes to the investigation teams for comparison with additional documents or follow-up with the elector.” 386 of those were accepted as valid. The remaining ten were referred for additional investigation. “All ten electors were located, positively identified, and interviewed.”

The LEOs used the Cobb County Elections Database which included signature information from voter registration forms, absentee ballot applications, voter certificates, passports, certificates of naturalization, in addition to other documents.

The full report is available here: https://sos.ga.gov/admin/uploads/Cobb%20County%20ABM%20Audit%20Report%2020201229.pdf

 

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!

East Marietta Little League starts Blake Mahoney scholarship

by

Blake Mahoney

In April Blake Mahoney, an 11-year-old student at Eastvalley Elementary School, was tragically killed after a crash as he rode his bicycle in his neighborhood.

He followed his brother as a baseball player at Sewell Park with the East Marietta National Little League, and now his family has established a scholarship program in his name.

Registration is underway for the spring season, and here’s more from East Marietta about the financial need-based scholarships, and how to apply with a deadline that’s coming soon:

Blake’s absence has created a void that will never be filled. It was very noticeable when his teammates played their first intermediate season without Blake this past fall. Blake was a baseball player. You could tell in how he carried himself. Blake came by baseball naturally, and he had great technique. He knew where the play should be, a credit to his baseball acumen, acquired no doubt from watching his brother play countless baseball games. He was a student of the game, and while in the dugout, he was either hanging on the fence or sitting on the baseball bucket, soaking in the game.

The Mahoney family established a scholarship in Blake’s name, to be awarded to players at East Marietta National Little League. This scholarship will financially help an inspiring baseball player—to continue in Blake’s spirit, for the love of the game.

We plan to award 6 scholarships this spring in Blake’s name. Please complete the application and submit all paperwork by January 15, 2021. Application can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSdIPF9…/viewform

 

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!

Top East Cobb 2020 stories: A Democratic election upheaval

by

Cobb Democrats sweep county races, East Cobb Elections Update
Lisa Cupid, Craig Owens and Flynn Broady headlined Democratic wins in countywide races.

The gains Cobb Democrats made in the last two election cycles reached a power-shifting culmination in 2020, as incumbent Republicans holding countywide seats were swept out of office.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will become all-female, and with a black Democratic majority headed by two-term commissioner Lisa Cupid, who ousted chairman Mike Boyce.

Cupid will be the first chairwoman and first black head of county government in Cobb’s history, as well as the first Democrat to hold the office since Ernest Barrett in 1984.

She’ll be joined in January by Jerica Richardson, an Equifax manager, who will succeed retiring Republican commissioner Bob Ott in District 2, which includes some of East Cobb.

The Democratic wave took out longtime Cobb GOP Sheriff Neil Warren, who was defeated by veteran Cobb Police officer Craig Owens.

Former Cobb assistant solicitor Flynn Broady won a special election over appointed Republican Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes to complete the final two years of former DA Vic Reynolds’ term.

Even Republican Cobb Superior Court Clerk Rebecca Keaton fell to Democrat Connie Taylor.

Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate also won in Cobb County, with Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock getting strong showings here to fuel their current runoff campaigns against Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

All four have been actively campaigning in Cobb ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff date.

For the second consecutive presidential election, a Democrat won Cobb. Joe Biden received 56 percent of the vote, although Republican President Donald Trump enjoyed a stronghold in East Cobb.

During the presidential recount, allegations of ballot shredding and other improprieties were made by pro-Trump forces, and a last-ditch effort to disqualify Cobb voters from the runoffs by the head of the Cobb GOP was turned down by the county elections board.

All East Cobb legislative incumbents won re-election, as did U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of the 6th Congressional District.

For the second consecutive election, longtime State Rep. Sharon Cooper, an East Cobb Republican and chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, eked out a vary narrow victory against Democrat Luisa Wakeman.

The Cooper-Wakeman rematch was one of the key races Democrats were targeting in a high-stakes, and high-spending election.

The candidates raised more than $500,000 combined, but Democrats flipped only one of the 16 seats they needed to win to end Republican control.

Republicans will keep a 4-3 control of the Cobb Board of Education, with all three GOP incumbents defeating Democratic challengers.

They included three-term board member David Banks of East Cobb, who brushed off charges of racism by his Democratic opponent and colleagues.

More Top East Cobb 2020 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!

Police identify suspect in death of Sedalia Park ES student

by

Kennedy Maxie, Sedalia Park student shot

Atlanta Police said Tuesday they have secured felony warrants against a man they believe fired the shots that led to the death of a Sedalia Park Elementary School student last week.

Police said during a news conference that Daquan Reed, 24, is wanted for murder and other charges stemming from a Dec. 21 incident at Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.

Kennedy Maxie, 7, was riding in a car with her mother and aunt after Christmas shopping when she was struck by a stray bullet, police said previously, and that she was rushed to Childrens Healthcare Atlanta Scottish Rite.

The girl died on Saturday night, and a $15,000 reward for information about the case continued.

Police said Tuesday that there was an argument and a fight in the parking lot of the Saks Fifth Avenue store at Phipps and that Reed may have been among the individuals involved.

Lt. Pete Malecki, an Atlanta Police homicide investigator, said Reed left the scene in a car and began shooting, and the gunfire hit the girl in the back of the head.

The other warrants against Reed include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm during a crime and reckless conduct.

Malecki said it was “relentless investigative work” that led to identifying a suspect, but that while “we have a lot of work to do to apprehend Mr. Reed . . . it’s our hope that this will provide a sliver of relief to Kennedy’s family.”

A fundraiser set up by the girl’s godmother to provide assistance to the family has received more than $60,000 in donations, and many messages of condolence:

“My heart is broken. May God comfort the family and give them strength. And, I pray those responsible for this senseless tragedy be found and brought to justice quickly before they hurt anyone else. RIP baby girl.”

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!

 

2 arrested for false imprisonment, battery of East Cobb woman

by

Cobb Police said a 66-year-old woman was the victim of battery and false imprisonment at her home in East Cobb last week, including having her hands tied behind her back with a cable wire, and have arrested her daughter and another man.Cobb Police, Holly Springs Road suspicious person, East Cobb crime forum

Jenica Bratton, 22, and Matthew Hurlebaus, 21, were booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center on Dec. 23, and both remain in custody on bonds of $7,920 and $8,470, respectively, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.

UPDATED, SATURDAY, Jan. 2: Bratton has bonded out of jail; Hurlebaus remains in custody.

They’re facing felony charges of false imprisonment and exploitation and intimidation of elderly and disabled persons.

Bratton, whose booking report indicates she is homeless, also has been charged with a misdemeanor charge of battery and a felony charge of drug possession.

According to Bratton’s arrest warrant, Bratton was at her mother’s home on Housely Road on the afternoon of Dec. 23 and got into a verbal altercation with the older woman that turned violent.

Bratton then ordered her to an upstairs area of a shed on the property, binding her mother’s arms behind her back with a cable wire, according to the warrant.

The warrant said Hurlebaus persuaded Bratton to unbind the mother while he watched her.

According to Hurlebaus’ warrant, the older woman tried fleeing the area, but he blocked an exit to the shed, preventing her from escaping.

The older woman suffered multiple small lacerations around her mouth and chin, according to Bratton’s warrant, as well as bruises on her left wrist from the cable.

Bratton and Hurlebaus were later arrested at his home on Post Oak Tritt Road, and she also was found to be in possession of Acetaminophen and Hydrocodone pills, according to her warrant.

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!

Selected New Year’s Eve events in Cobb County

by

Cobb New Years Eve events

From Cobb Travel and Tourism:

New Year’s Eve Bash
American Legion 294 Lounge
3282 Florence Road, Powder Springs
Come celebrate NYE with us at American Legion post 294.. Starts at 7pm.
Event day tickets are $30/$40 and include party favors, champagne toast, and midnight Brunch. Karaoke 8pm -10pm; DJ 10pm – close

Thank God It’s Over
NYE at Red Top Brewhouse
4637 S. Main St., Acworth
Let’s shake 2020 out of our hair together. We’re closing to the public and having ourselves a ticketed event. $75 gets you dinner from a menu curated by Chef Bobby, a live performance from local singer/songwriter and 2020 American Idol contestant, Erin Kirby and her band. Then we’ll celebrate the end of it all with a complimentary champagne toast.
Click to get your tickets! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/131920801669

New Year’s Eve 2021
The Battery Atlanta
825 Battery Ave.
We usually hate goodbyes but not with 2020. Don’t miss Atlanta’s best New Year’s Eve celebration!
This year we’re celebrating the New Year 2020 style; offering a safe & socially distanced environment. Limited capacity. So grab your tickets now!
MASQUERADE themed event with entertainment
Balloon Drop
Midnight champagne toast & Ball Drop on our 32-ft LED screen!
All packages grant you access to all venues inside Live! At the Battery Atlanta: Sports & Social, PBR Atlanta, Tavern and Coors Banquet Bar.
For tickets click here.

 For more New Year’s Eve options, visit the Cobb Travel and Tourism events page.

 

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 Christmas Confetti store to donate décor inventory

by

Christmas Confetti East Cobb

Submitted information:

The holiday season may be coming to a close, but the giving continues in an effort to end 2020 in a positive way! On Thursday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve), Christmas Confetti, a premier seasonal Christmas décor store located in the Avenue at East Cobb Shopping Center will host its inaugural “BIG GIVE” by donating all remaining inventory to families who could not afford a Christmas tree, holiday lights, ornaments and other holiday décor.

In partnership with Families First, 75 families will have an opportunity to select $250 worth of Christmas decoration for next year. This “BIG GIVE” comes during a time when so many families are challenged with job loss, furloughs and other financial setbacks. “As a member of the Board of Directors at Families First, I get to see first-hand the various needs of our community and particularly those of adoptive and foster care youth and families, says Leonard Jennings, owner of Christmas Confetti. In partnership with Families First, “BIG GIVE” will ensure that deserving families will receive Christmas trees, ornaments, and home decorations this year giving them an opportunity to enjoy Christmases in the years to come.”

Families will arrive early and in great anticipation of a shopping spree that will continue the holiday cheer. Several Atlanta influencers have been invited to add to the spirit of giving. The event will continue until everything is gone!

Christmas Confetti is located in the Avenue East at East Cobb shopping complex in Marietta near Johnson Ferry and Roswell Road. The seasonal Christmas décor store was created to give people who love the Christmas season, a cheerful and unique shopping experience. It is the home of the upside down Christmas tree.

Families First is one of Georgia’s largest family and children’s services organization in metropolitan Atlanta. The organization works to improve outcomes for children, youth, individuals and families at every stage of life by providing them with mental health support, coaching, early education and intervention techniques that strengthen families, as well as build resiliency, no matter what challenges they may be facing.

 

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!

Top East Cobb 2020 stories: Small businesses struggle to survive

by

East Cobb small businesses struggle

Government-ordered shutdowns throughout Georgia at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic were especially devastating for small- and family-owned businesses, many of which did not survive.

Big-box retailers and supermarkets were allowed to stay open, as was the Sprayberry Bottle Shop on Sandy Plains Road. For several weeks, the package store provided service in a curbside pickup format only, before allowing customers to shop inside.

Those able to stay open still had to scramble with a major drop in business. For those fully closed by Gov. Brian Kemp’s initial emergency order—especially restaurants—the closures were extinction-type events.

Even for Waffle House. The manager of the restaurant on Sandy Plains Road, just up the street from the Sprayberry Bottle Shop, told us in April she and two others were working to provide take-out orders and “doing everything we can to keep our doors open.”

Some relief appeared for small business owners during the spring, after Congress provided stimulus assistance through the Paycheck Protection Program.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners approved spending $50 million of its allotted $132 million in federal CARES Act funding to provide loans to more than 3,000 small businesses in the county, along similar lines as PPP.

In early May, Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care at the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center was planning to reopen following the easing of Kemp’s order. Salon owner Rhoda Gunnigle told us at the time she needed to restart her business as soon as possible, after implementing safety protocols.

“How can you wait while while expenses pile up? With the rent due, I didn’t feel I had much of a choice.”

Gunnigle had just received her PPP loan when her salon reopened, but she couldn’t get enough customers to keep her business afloat. Frenchie’s closed in July, and another nail salon has opened in the same space.

It wasn’t until June that a number of East Cobb restaurants reopened for in-dining service. Seed and Drift had improvised takeout before that. But the dining rooms at many restaurants remain far below capacity due to social-distancing measures.

A long-standing East Cobb restaurant closed its doors for good in early December, unable to recover from the shutdowns.

Kouzina Christos, which previously operated as Christos Restaurant, served up its final grinders, pizzas and gyros in the Terrell Mill Village Shopping Center, closed to where the Greek immigrant family first opened in 1979.

Owner Christos Giannes said he couldn’t negotiate revised terms with his landlord, and was upset by what he called a “flaccid and shortsighted response from local, state and national sources for support to buttress businesses who’s loss will negatively affect business viability, employees, their families, the community, the schools is laughable.

“The losses to the foundation, the fabric that buttress our communities will be felt for many years.”

At Nancy’s Salon in East Cobb, owner Qamar Hisamuddin also said her business has been halved due to safety protocols. Only three of the six chairs in her salon at Woodlawn Commons are available at any given time.

She remains hopeful for a better 2021, but admitted the eight weeks she was closed took an enormous toll.

More Top East Cobb 2020 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!

Update: Five Guys reopens at East Cobb Crossing

by

East Cobb Five Guys

After our post last week about the temporary closure, a couple of readers have let us know that the Five Guys restaurant at East Cobb Crossing has reopened.

We’ve left word with the hamburger chain’s press office seeking more information but haven’t heard back.

The closure appeared to have been around a week but no reason has been given.

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!

 

The Art Place open for last week of early voting for runoffs

by

The Art Place

There are four days of early voting taking place this week—it’s more like three and a half—and a couple additional locations to cast your ballot in person for the U.S. Senate runoffs.

Among them is the The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), which is open from 7-7 Monday-Wednesday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, which is New Years Eve.

The same hours apply for the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road), which has been open for the first two weeks of early voting.

The Cobb Geographic Information Systems Office is continuing to post estimated wait times; a link to the map can be found here.

If you click the information icon in the upper-right corner you’ll find a color-coded legend explaining the wait times and other information.

There won’t be any early voting taking place on Saturday, Jan. 2, or on Monday, Jan. 4. On Tuesday, Jan. 5, you’ll have to go to your usual precinct if you wish to vote in person on that day.

If you have an absentee ballot that you wish to mail, it must be received—not postmarked—by Cobb Elections by 7 p.m. Jan. 5, when the polls close.

You can also drop it off 24/7 at one of 16 designated drop boxes in the county also by 7 p.m. Tuesday. Four are in East Cobb:

  • East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
  • Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive)
  • Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road)
  • Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road)

Those voting in person must present proper ID, wear masks and line up according to social-distancing measures.

If you have an absentee ballot but wish to vote in person, you’re asked to bring your ballot with you. You will have to have your absentee ballot cancelled—which adds to the wait time—before you can vote at the polls.

Cobb Elections provides the links below for early and absentee voting:

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!

Sedalia Park ES student dies after being shot in Buckhead

by

Kennedy Maxie, Sedalia Park student shot

WSB-TV is reporting Sunday afternoon that Kennedy Maxie, a 7-year-old student at Sedalia Park Elementary School in East Cobb, has died after being shot in the head in Buckhead on Monday.

The television station said the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that the girl died Saturday evening.

She had been at Children’s Healthcare Atlanta at Scottish Rite since being taken there Monday evening, after she and her mother and aunt were leaving Phipps Plaza, where they had been Christmas shopping.

Atlanta Police said the girl was sitting in the back of a car when she was struck by a stray bullet. A reward for information about the incident had been raised to $15,000.

But there have been few details from police about leads in the case, and about why there was shooting in the area.

The girl’s godmother began a fundraiser that has netted more than $45,000. There has been no word from her or the family since a Christmas Eve message.

UPDATED: Atlanta Police Monday confirmed the girl’s death and said a $15,000 reward remains.

 

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!

Pope student getting national attention as trick dog handler

by

Pope student, trick dog handler

East Cobb resident Nicole Penson is excited to pass along news about her daughter, Sophie, a student at Pope High School, who’s getting national magazine attention for her award-winning exploits as a trick dog handler.

Sophie and her dog Ducky, a rescued border collie mix, will be featured in the January-February issue of the American Kennel Club magazine.

Here’s more from Nicole about Sophie’s work with canines and school activities:

“Sophie is a junior at Pope High School and has earned numerous awards through the AKC, Universal Canine All Stars, Do More with Your Dog!, Cyber K9, International Canine Events Grand Prix Dog Shows, Sundog Sport, World Online Dog Show, and International Dog Parkour Association. She is a Certified Trick Dog Instructor, Certified Stunt Dog Competition Judge and Certified Canine Conditioning Fitness Coach with Do More With your Dog!, achieving the rank of All Star Trainer of the Year as a trick dog instructor and the rank of silver medal as a stunt dog judge.

“She is the first and only triple crown trainer in the state of Georgia with 185 titled students total and currently the youngest handler in the world to put the titles of stunt dog grand champion and triple crown champion on a dog (also the first junior handler for both). Her dog Ducky is the first mixed breed in the world to earn the triple crown champion title and so far the only one in the USA; she is also the first dog ever (worldwide) to earn the L2AAS agility title with Universal Canine All Stars. Sophie and Ducky will soon be pursuing their third grand championship upon release of Do More With Your Dog’s new title, Trick Dog Grand Champion (TDGCH).

“At Pope High School, Sophie is a board member of SGA and Sources of Strength. A member of Science Olympiad, Creative Writing Club, National Honor Society, Science National Honor Society, Social Studies National Honor Society, and Math National Honor Society. She is currently a state nominee for the Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) in Biology. She has also been a volunteer with Our Pals Place (OPP), a pet adoption facility, for six years. Sophie and Ducky are currently practicing trick routines in the hopes of performing for seniors who are confined in assisted living centers due to Covid restrictions.”

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!

Top East Cobb 2020 stories: Community response to COVID-19

by

Cobb Community Food Fleet

The COVID-19 pandemic and shutdowns stemming from it prompted a response from community, civic, business and governmental organizations like never before in 2020.

Even those groups in Cobb County whose work involves helping those most in need were stretched far beyond what they’re accustomed to doing.

MUST Ministries, a Marietta-based non-profit that serves the homeless and others in need in several metro Atlanta counties, was challenged in unprecedented ways.

Federal CARES Act funding received by Cobb County government was distributed to a number of non-profit and community organizations for broad-based needs, including food, rental assistance, and to help them stay operational.

Among those efforts was a joint response by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the Cobb Community Foundation, which launched Operation Meal Plan.

CCF later estimated that county non-profits delivered 8.3 million pounds of food since the pandemic began in March, and those needs will continue for months to come.

At the end of the year, CCF named Howard Koepka of the Noonday Association of Churches as the recipient of its James L. Rhoden Jr. Visionary Philanthropist Award, after the East Cobb resident who founded CCF and has long been involved in non-profit community service in the county.

Other efforts to aid those on the frontlines of the COVID-19 crisis include people took it upon themselves to lend a helping hand. Among them is Kirsten Glaser, a new East Cobb resident who’s been serving up “lasagna love” to health care workers, first responders, teacher and others.

More Top East Cobb 2020 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!

Top East Cobb 2020 stories: Cleaning up from Hurricane Zeta

by

East Cobb road closures Zeta

We can’t often say a storm with hurricane-force winds comes our way, but in late October what was left of Hurricane Zeta tore through East Cobb with a vengeance, downing trees and power lines and shutting down major roads, in some cases for a few days.

The damage prompted the cancellation of schools for a day and many people were also left without power for days.

Some residents reported extensive damage to their homes, including a woman living in a Northeast Cobb neighborhood who said a large tree smashed through and totaled her residence.

No serious injuries were reported in the community, but the storm also uprooted trees at the Mt. Bethel cemetery on Johnson Ferry Road, causing damage to some gravestones.

Mt. Bethel church cemetery graves damaged

More Top East Cobb 2020 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!

 

‘Bring One for the Chipper’ Christmas tree recycling begins

by

tree recycling, Bring One for the Chipper, Keep Cobb Beautiful

Keep Cobb Beautiful’s annual “Bring One for the Chipper” Christmas tree recycling event started on Christmas day and continues through Jan. 9.

You can bring your tree to several Home Depot locations—including two in East Cobb, and at two Cobb County Parks, one of which is Fullers Park.

Here’s more from Keep Cobb Beautiful about the recycling event and its flyer with details on when and where to drop off your tree:

Flocked trees will not be accepted as they are harmful to wildlife. Trees must have all decorations, mesh, lights, stands and strings removed prior to drop off. Free mulch is available upon request and free saplings will be available, while supplies last, at participating locations 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 9.

Bring One for the Chipper 2020

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!

East Cobb churches deliver Christmas messages of hope

by
East Cobb Christmas messages
“Every day is a gift of Christ’s presence,” said Father Joseph Aquino of the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Christians in East Cobb gathered in-person and online Thursday for Christmas Eve services hearing a familiar topic in a new light.

Celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ were conducted in different formats by many congregations in the community.

Some had limited worship in-person due to COVID-19 social-distancing protocols, with attendees wearing masks, saying “the peace” without touching and limiting music to designated vocalists and instrumentalists.

A few services were done outdoors under protective coverings on a cold and rainy day. Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church decided on Wednesday to hold its Christmas Eve services online-only after an emergency meeting of its COVID-19 task force.

At a Thursday afternoon Mass at the Catholic Church of St. Ann, senior pastor Father Joseph Aquino delivered a message of hope that is the essence of the arrival of Christ. 

“Tonight we celebrate the final fruit of that hope,” Aquino said. 

While he didn’t reference current circumstances, Aquino said that even through “all kinds of pain, all kinds of ailments and illnesses . . . there is hope.”

The message was similar at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, which held its Christmas Eve in a virtual-only format. 

The service included music from socially-distanced choir members and bell ringers. Rev. Harden Hopper said in his sermon that “God wants to leave no one lost in the dark and that one day he will lead us into his light.

“For some, this season is the hardest of all. But take heart because there is refuge in the Wonderful Counselor, Our Savior.”

Johnson Ferry Baptist Church offered in-person services, and also produced a virtual candlelight service (video below).

Rev. Clay Smith said that “2020 has been a dark year for many,” referencing COVID-19, death and loss, political strife, racial protests and economic devastation.

“It’s exposed the reality that a lot of us are still scared of the dark,” Smith said. “We need the light, and that light is what Christmas is all about. Christmas is God’s light breaking into a dark world.”

Another large East Cobb church scrapped plans for in-person services on Wednesday. The COVID-19 task force at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church decided to conduct all services in virtual format.

On its Facebook page the church has been showing a prerecorded service, and on Christmas Day will be airing a “marathon” of previous caroling performances and other special programming.

Rev. Ricky Ray said the decision was based on the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the community.

“This has been an extremely difficult season and an extremely difficult decision to make,” he said in a video message. “I hope that you’ll be safe and have a very Merry Christmas.”

St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, which has had limited in-person services outdoors since the late fall, led a late-afternoon candlelight service under an awning at its entrance, with attendees and clergy bundled up.

A later outdoor service on Christmas Eve and another in-person service on Christmas morning were cancelled for weather reasons.

St. Catherine’s designated three local charities to receive its Christmas Eve offering proceeds: Cobb Communities in Schools, Family Promise of Cobb County and Simple Needs GA.

Some churches are having online and in-person services on Christmas Day. For details, visit the East Cobb News Christmas schedule page. 

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!