Lassiter High School went into code yellow status for a while on Thursday after a student reported seeing another student with a weapon in an off-campus situation, according to the Cobb County School District.
In a message that went out to Lassiter parents Thursday afternoon, principal Chris Richie said that “we stopped all movement and secured the building until we were able to verify the student was not in the vicinity of Lassiter.”
In a code yellow situation, the outside doors to a school are closed while classes and activities continue inside.
Richie further said that “there is no reason to believe that our campus, students, or staff are in any danger.”
He did not indicate where off-campus the incident occurred; a Cobb school district spokesman also would not elaborate when contacted by East Cobb News. She said the code yellow situation was in effect at Lassiter “for a period of time” and confirmed that the weapon was a handgun.
She added that “teachers continued to teach and students continued to learn with minimal interruption to the school day while both the Cobb School Police Department and Cobb Police investigated.”
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While the Atlanta Braves were playing their 2021 season opener Thursday afternoon, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid pushed back against calls from President Joe Biden to move the All-Star Game away from Truist Park.
The president said he “strongly supports” finding a new venue for the mid-July event because of the Georgia legislature’s recent changes to elections laws that have been sharply criticized by Democrats as voter suppression measures.
Cupid, the first black head of Cobb County government and its first Democratic chair in more than 35 years, has been among them. But she issued a statement that Biden’s comments send “an unfortunate message to those residents and businesses here who have supported him.”
In an interview with ESPN Wednesday, Biden said that “I think today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that. People look to them. They’re leaders.”
In previous comments, Biden decried the new elections law, signed quickly after passage in a Republican-controlled legislature last week by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, as “Jim Crow on steroids.”
Kemp, who is up for re-election in 2022, lashed out at Biden, saying calls to move the All-Star Game are “ridiculous.”
In a statement issued by Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt, Cupid said that “I would be open to a discussion with the President and others about alternative actions that would channel our frustration into an opportunity to use this event as a chance to openly discuss this legislation, voter participation, and inclusion and then find an applicable response.”
The statement didn’t specify what any alternate actions might be.
Cupid said last week that losing the All-Star Game could hurt Cobb’s economic recovery from business closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic (see video below).
Leaders of major Atlanta-based corporations, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, have spoken out in recent days against the new elections law.
Last year’s shortened baseball season due to COVID-19 included no fans allowed in stadiums.
It was the fourth season at the Cobb County ballpark for the Braves, who reached the National League Championship Series and are among the contenders for the World Series this year.
The Braves have set a goal of allowing for full capacity—more than 40,000—by the time the All-Star Game rolls around. That event includes a homerun derby on Monday and the game between American League and National League all-stars on Tuesday.
The Braves will play their first homestand of the 2021 season next week with a 33 percent capacity, and said on Thursday that they will allow up to 50 percent capacity at Truist Park for the second homestand.
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The latest Sprayberry Crossing site plan expands green space around the Mayes family cemetery and includes a “town green.” For a larger view click here.
With just a few days before their first public hearings, two major rezoning cases in East Cobb are getting some last-minute changes.
Kevin Moore, the attorney for the proposed redevelopment of the Sprayberry Crossing and the proposed East Cobb Church mixed-use development, filed stipulation letters in both cases on Wednesday.
He also filed a new site plan for Sprayberry Crossing, the latest of several renditions for a mixed-use plan to replace a long-blighted shopping center.
After several months of delays, they’re slated to be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.
We’re still reading through everything, but will summarize what’s new.
The Sprayberry Crossing plans have undergone many revisions, the latest being filed late Wednesday afternoon, shortly before Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell held a public information session.
You can read through the new changes by clicking here; there’s a new Cobb DOT traffic analysis here; and the full agenda packet is here.
Atlantic Realty hasn’t changed the details for the residential component—125 apartments, 125 senior apartments and 44 townhomes—nor a proposed grocery store space.
The developer is asking for a waiver from a requirement of the Redevelopment Overlay District zoning category for at least 10 percent of the residential units be dedicated for “workforce housing.”
In addition, Atlantic Realty is proposing a property owners association for the overall development.
More green space has been added back into the new site plan, with a “town green” proposed near the Mayes family cemetery. That green space will be open to the entire community, not just those living in the development.
In addition, the developer listed a number of businesses in the retail portion that would not be allowed, from video arcades to adult retail to several kinds of automotive services.
The townhome units proposed near what would be the East Cobb Church have been reduced from 125 to 110. For a larger view click here.
North Point Ministries Inc. has altered its mixed-use proposal anchored by East Cobb Church to include more low-rise office space at the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry Road and Shallowford Road.
A new stipulation letter (you can read it here), also filed Wednesday, would reduce the number of proposed townhomes from 125 to 110. The applicant is also seeking a new zoning category, Fee Simple Townhomes, instead of a multifamily residential category.
Among the stipulations are to designate that no more than 10 of the townhomes could be rentals at any given time.
North Point Ministries’ plan is to sell that 18.11 acres (out of more than 33 overall) to Ashwood Development, an upscale builder with projects in the city of Atlanta and Florida.
Residents near the blighted Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center have differences about what should replace it.
During Wednesday’s public information session about Sprayberry Crossing, Birrell said she and county staff had not had time to look through the changes.
They answered questions from the public submitted in advance.
Birrell stressed to viewers of the virtual meeting to e-mail their commissioner and members of the Cobb Planning Commission.
“It is in my district and I will take the lead in the discussions,” she said. “But there are five votes. So you need to e-mail all of us.”
She said of the e-mails she’s received thus far about Sprayberry Crossing, there are 83 e-mails against the project, and 21 in favor.
The opposition is mostly over traffic concerns and having any apartments at all.
It’s been three years since area residents held a town hall meeting at Sprayberry High School to jump-start a process that has led to a rezoning case of any kind.
“I know we’re all tired of looking at Sprayberry Crossing,” Birrell said of the retail center that’s been run-down for more than 20 years. “There’s nobody who wants to see this redeveloped than me.”
But she said it’s important to hear fully from the community to determine the best options.
The Cobb Planning Commission meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb Government Building at 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta. You can read through the full agenda by clicking here.
There will be limited in-person attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions. The meeting can be seen on the Cobb County government’s Facebook and YouTube channels and Channel 23 on Comcast.
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Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson is having a virtual town hall next week to announce her priorities and to introduce what she’s calling a “quarterly report” for her District 2 constituents.
The meeting takes place next Tuesday, April 6, starting at 6 p.m., and you can sign up by clicking here.
Up to 20 people who express a desire to attend in-person will be chosen from a drawing, as indicated on the sign-up form.
During her first three months in office, Richardson has undertaken what she calls a “priorities tour” around the district to hear from citizens about their priorities.
That’s part of what will be unveiled in the quarterly report.
Next Thursday, she’s holding another virtual town hall meeting about the North Point Ministries/East Cobb Church rezoning case that’s coming up in April.
She and Tony Waybright, the District 2 representative to the Cobb Planning Commission, held a town hall in February, but several changes have been made since then.
Waybright, of Vinings, is among the holdover appointees Richardson has kept who were initially named by her successor, Bob Ott, to various board and commissions.
Among the others staying on are Abby Shiffman of East Cobb, the chairwoman of the Cobb Library Board of Trustees, and Roger Phelps, also of East Cobb, to the Cobb Board of Tax Assessors.
Richardson also has appointed a “community cabinet” on various topics and to reflect the geography of District 2. Her East Cobb liaison is Cellie Cohen-Smith, a resident of Princeton Corners who was part of Richardson’s campaign.
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