A total of 22 faith and service organizations from north metro Atlanta will be represented on Thursday, Nov. 17, at the 18th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service.
The service has been held virtually the last two years but is returning in-person at East Cobb’s Temple Kol Emeth (1415 Old Canton Road), starting at 7 p.m.
The theme this year is “Finding Common Ground.” The event includes music, reflection and “a healthy dose of humor” from more than a dozen different religious beliefs “to recognize what they have in common and celebrate our uniqueness.”
Among the East Cobb faith communities participating will be the Catholic Church of St. Ann, Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, Congregation Etz Chaim, East Cobb Islamic Center, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation, St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church Transfiguration Catholic Church and Unity North Atlanta Church.
A collection will be taken to benefit the Give-A-Gobble Campaign and desserts will be served after the service.
Seating is limited and begins at 6:30 p.m.
The service also is being live-streamed at this link.
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On Tuesday, Barry Morgan was honored by the Cobb Board of Commissioners for his many years of service as the Cobb Solicitor General.
On Wednesday, he was one of five people appointed to fill judicial vacancies in Cobb Magistrate Court.
Chief Magistrate Judge Brendan Murphy said the positions are part-time and they were filled after an open application and interview process.
Magistrate Court is open 24/7/365 handling a variety of civil and criminal caseloads, including cases involving self-represented litigants, and is the court of first hearings for most criminal cases.
Morgan is retiring as Cobb Solicitor General, an office he has held since 1999. In that role, he has been the county’s chief prosecutor for a variety of misdemeanor, traffic and ordinance cases.
He will begin his new post in January, as will Magistrate Judge-designate Che A. Karega II, a Marietta attorney in private practice.
Jana J. Edmonson-Cooper has been chosen to succeed Sonia Brown, who was recently elected Cobb Superior Court judge.
Two other magistrate judges-designate will be sworn in next week. They are Lauren Boone, an in-house corporate counsel for a major insurance firm and a former prosecutor in Fulton County, and Ronna Woodruff, a bankruptcy and family law attorney in Marietta.
“We’re excited to add Lauren, Ronna, Che, and Barry to the People’s Court family. Collectively, they bring over 80 years of diverse legal experience to the bench,” Murphy said in a statement issued by Cobb government.
“Working in shifts around the clock for a fraction of the hourly rate they can earn in private practice, our part-time judges are the backbone of the Court, providing true community service.”
In Tuesday’s elections, Marietta attorney Makia Metzger was elected to succeed Morgan as Solicitor General. Her term will start in January.
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The following food scores for the week of Nov. 7 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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 concert begins at 7 p.m. in the Lassiter Concert Hall (2601 Shallowford Road) and features the 116th Army band, the Lassiter NJROTC and choruses from Mabry and Simpson middle schools and Davis, Garrison Mill and Rocky Mount elementary schools.
All veterans and active duty military members and their families will be welcomed into the concert hall for early seating beginning at 6:30 p.m.
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The Cobb Board of Education will remain in Republican control after Post 4 incumbent David Chastain won a third term on Tuesday.
And Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, seeking her fourth term, ensured that Republicans would hold two of the five seats on the board with an easy re-election victory in District 3.
Gov. Brian Kemp was re-elected in a 2018 rematch with Stacey Abrams, and the U.S. Senate race appears headed to a runoff.
In the Cobb school board race, Chastain fended off Democratic newcomer Catherine Pozniak in a heated Post 4 campaign (Kell, Lassiter, Sprayberry clusters).
With all but one of the post’s 29 precincts reporting, Chastain received 21,061 votes, or 55.29 percent, to 17,034 for Pozniak, or 44.71 percent (results here).
Chastain was the only Republican on the school board up for re-election. Democrats won contests for open seats in Post 2 and Post 6, meaning that the GOP will continue to hold a 4-3 advantage for at least another two years.
Birrell had little trouble against Democrat Christine Triebsch in a newly redrawn district that includes most of East Cobb.
With all but two of 52 precincts reporting, Birrell received 46,019 votes, or 59 percent, to 31,921 votes for Triebsch, or 42 percent (results here).
Keli Gambrill, the other Republican Cobb commissioner, won a second term Tuesday after being unopposed in Post 1 in north and west Cobb.
You can find all Cobb results, including Cobb solicitor, another contested school board race and the Mableton cityhood referendum, at this link.
You also can track all results around the state compiled by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office by clicking here.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock is neck-and neck with Republican Herschel Walker in a bid for a full 6-year term. With 90 percent of the vote in, Warnock had 49.07 percent of the vote compared to 48.92 percent for Walker in results that went back-and-forth all night.
Libertarian Chase Oliver has received 2 percent, and a Dec. 6 runoff looms between Walker and Warnock if the top vote-getter does not get 50 percent plus one vote. (updated real-time results here).
Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams in their rematch from 2018, holding a 55-44 percent advantage. Unlike four years ago, Abrams conceded this race.
Republicans swept all statewide constitutional offices (click here for results), including incumbents in Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr.
In U.S. House races, Republican Rich McCormick cruised over Democrat Bob Christian in the 6th Congressional District, an open seat after U.S. Lucy McBath moved to the 7th District following reapportionment.
She won a third term in the Gwinnett-based district Tuesday, and in District 11, which includes some of East Cobb, GOP U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk won easily over Democrat Anthony Daza.
Democrats won two open seats in the Georgia legislature from the East Cobb area, one each in the House and Senate.
More updated and detailed results to come Wednesday and later in the week.
UPDATED, 10:30 P.M.
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell leads by 17 points in her re-election bid in District 3 with 82 percent of precincts reporting;
Cobb school board member David Chastain leads with 54.7 percent of the vote and 80 percent of precincts reporting in Post 4.
UPDATED, 9:25 P.M.
Some very early election-day voting results are trickling in for the two East Cobb local elections we’re tracking.
With 33 percent of the precincts reporting, Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell has opened a 13-point lead over Democrat Christine Triebsch for the seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The Cobb Board of Education Post 4 race was neck-and-neck early, and with 37 percent of the precincts reporting, Republican David Chastain leads Democrat Catherine Pozniak 52.5 percent to 47.4 percent.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
The polls have closed in Georgia, and the counting has begun for the 2022 general elections.
East Cobb News will continuously update this post all evening with results, reaction and more coverage.
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!
Published buy Amsterdam Publishers, “Hands of Gold” is based on the true-life experiences of her late grandfather, who fled anti-Semitism in pre-Nazi Europe. The novel tells the story of an elderly man, Sam Fox, who has survived many ordeals but who is coming to grips with his past.
As this is happening, “a gold watch from his grandmother, lost and buried during the Holocaust, will find its way back to him. Through this and other blessings, Sam learns to find the silver lining in his everyday struggles by holding onto his loved ones, along with a little self-reliance and even a few miracles.”
Robbins will be in conversation with author and media personality Robyn Spizman at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Marcus Center (5342 Tilly Mill Road Atlanta) in an event that will include an audience Q and A and a book signing. Copies of her book also will be on sale.
To reserve a free ticket for the event, click here.
Robbins developed the novel idea after listening to cassette tapes of her grandfather, who died in 1995, speaking about his life experiences.
The former associate editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times, Robbins turned that into a column for the newspaper, “Giving Memories a Voice: My Grandfather Left a Piece of Himself Behind as a Legacy to his Progeny.”
She has been a published writer for 35 years, with bylines at Medscape/WebMD, daily and weekly newspapers and as a freelancer for national, regional and online publications.
“Hands of Gold” was a quarterfinalist for historical fiction in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.
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If you’re interested in learning about cookie-making and the bakery arts, there’s a new business in East Cobb devoted to doing that.
The Cookie Nip Studio Kitchen is holding a grand opening Saturday from 12-6 at its location in the East Lake Shopping Center (2211 Roswell Road, Suite 154, next to the Cajun Meat Co.).
Owner Michelle Gowan, a former teacher, said the business is “a classroom kitchen dedicated to the bakery arts. We teach classes for kids and adults in sugar cookies, cake decorating and baking sweet treats. In addition, we offer an event space for birthday parties, baby showers and corporate events.”
The grand opening will include baking instructors and sugar artists offering free demos and plenty of samples of their goods.
Here’s more about Cookie Nip, which evolved from The Cookie School that Gowan started after retiring from the classroom.
Cookie Nip also offers baking “camps” and other special events and sells baking supplies.
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A Cobb Superior Court judge on Monday issued an emergency consent order that will enable several hundred voters who didn’t get absentee ballots to return them after Tuesday’s general election deadline.
Judge Kellie Hill said those voters will have the same Nov. 14 deadline as military and overseas voters to return their ballots.
The Cobb Board of Elections and Registration was the subject of a lawsuit filed Sunday by the American Liberties Union of Georgia and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of four absentee voters who were never mailed ballots they requested.
The suit sought the deadline extension and replacement ballots sent to affected voters, and Cobb Elections agreed in a Monday hearing before Hill.
The court order instructs Cobb Elections to count returned absentee ballots that are postmarked by 7 p.m. Tuesday and received on or before Nov. 14.
Those affected voters also can vote in person on Tuesday and have their absentee ballot request cancelled at their precinct.
They also can fill out a federal write-in absentee ballot and mail it in by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Cobb Elections acknowledged over the weekend that a total of 1,036 requested absentee ballots were not mailed on Oct. 13 and Oct. 22 because elections workers failed to upload ballot information to a mailing machine.
At a press conference Monday, Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler repeated her apology for what she called “a human error” and Daniel White, the agency’s attorney, said “we were being transparent” in working quickly to identify the affected voters and get ballots sent to them.
The ACLU blamed a new Georgia elections law that reduces the window for requesting and receiving absentee ballots.
“The anti-voter law put tremendous pressure on elections officials to accomplish a number of responsibilities under a very tight deadline, and in Cobb County, that pressure has resulted in a huge error and hundreds of voters at risk of being disenfranchised,” ACLU of Georgia senior voting rights attorney Rahul Garabadu said in a statement.
Dozens of those affected voters cancelled their requests and cast ballots in-person during the early voting period. Cobb Elections has already sent 247 absentee ballots via overnight delivery and more were being sent Monday in similar fashion.
The consent order indicated that “as many as 469 voters” may not have received their replacement ballots.
Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a release late Monday afternoon that the latter figure is now 276, after Cobb Elections analyzed in-person early-voting figures.
The only place to deliver an absentee ballot on Tuesday is at the Cobb Elections office (995 Roswell Road) between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
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Smita Daya treats customers to homemade soup and salad from her kitchen at Olea Oliva! for the store’s anniversary.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Olea Oliva! owner Smita Daya had to pivot, like many business owners did.
Her gourmet spices, olive oil and balsemic vinegar “taproom” at The Avenue East Cobb is an expansion of the initial space she leased at what is now the Vanilla Café e Gelato.
This past weekend, to mark four years in the new space and seven years in business, Daya offered complimentary tastings of the plant-based, olive oil-rich diet she has been passionate about spreading since she first opened her doors.
She served roasted butternut squash soup and salad to anyone who sat down at the table during a special anniversary celebration on Saturday.
She got the squash from nearby Martin’s Garden at Coleman Farms, blending in fresh ginger and turmeric and a homemade pesto of arugula, basil and smoked olives, then topped it with some seed oil.
Her husband Dilip greeted customers in the front who peruse the counter tops with a wide variety of olive oils, balsamic vinegars, spices, herbal teas and other artisanal food items.
The kitchen is where she offers cooking workshops. The author of a 2018 book on healthy cooking, Daya said being able to offer more of those in-person events has been a big part of the evolution of Olea Oliva! into what she first envisioned.
The store also carries some boutique wines, and has started a wine club that includes in-store tasting events.
While adaptations have been continuous, she said her formula for success is a simple one:
“You just keep at it, you just keep working,” Daya said.
Olea Oliva! 4475 Roswell Road Suite 1725 Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
This is the first in an occasional series of stories about East Cobb businesses marking anniversaries, and how they’ve adapted to changes prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and closures.
If you’d like to suggest a business for East Cobb News to profile, contact us: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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!
More than two years after the Cherokee Cattle Co. closed on Canton Road, its long-promised successor is set to open.
Cherokee Chophouse will serve its first meals Wednesday for dinner, according to the restaurant’s Facebook page on Sunday.
Updates on that account have been picking up in recent weeks as final permitting and licensing took place.
“It’s the final countdown!Enjoy all the classic dishes and extraordinary new ones at the ALL NEW Cherokee Chophouse!” said another post on Sunday.
Cherokee Chophouse got an “A” score in a health inspection last week, and released a menu that emphasizes, as the new name implies, steaks and specialty meats.
Among them are “signature cuts” supplied exclusively to Cherokee Chophouse from “specific Midwestern ranches.”
Cherokee Chophouse is part of a restaurant group owned by Gus Tselios that includes the nearby Marietta Fish Market, the Marietta Diner and Yeero Village on Sandy Plains Road at Highway 92.
He closed Cherokee Cattle Co. at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, then said he would reopen under a new name and new menu after some remodeling, according to ToNeTo.
But the remodeling on an older building was extensive, according to that report, and it looks very different from its predecessor.
We’ve reported previously that the salad concept chain Chopt is set to open on Wednesday in the former California Pizza Kitchen space in Pine Straw Plaza (4250 Roswell Road, Suite 630).
On Tuesday, it will hold a Chopt Gives Charity event that will benefit HOPE Atlanta, its designated charity, wich helps people challenged by food and housing insecurity.
The restaurant will donate 100 percent of the proceeds during designated times on Tuesday.
Patrons can dine in in from 11:30 a.m.—2 p.m. or 5—7:30 p.m. or by ordering online or via the Chopt mobile app.
Chopt’s normal business hours will be Monday-Saturday from 10:30 a.m.—9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m.—8 p.m.
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The addresses include ZIP Codes; subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:
Oct. 17
4806 Calais Court, 30067 (Lafayette Square, Walton): Excellent Flooring LLC to Michele Curtis McMurray Revocable Trust; $890,000
2451 Stockton Drive, 30066 (Stocktons Ford, Lassiter): Johnny Lynn Crum to Nancy Salloum; $430,000
4211 Loch Highland Parkway, 30075 (Loch Highland, Lassiter): Edward Krolikowski to Daniel and Natalie Delgado; $615,000
2957 Perrington Place, 30066 (Northampton, Lassiter): William Melson to Christopher and Jarrod Crocker; $876,000
2761 Georgian Terrace, 30068 (East Valley Estates, Wheeler): Vivica Richardson to Cory Hobbs and Elizabeth West; $450,000
912 Burns Drive, 30067 (Tuxedo Estates, Wheeler): Irana do Couto to Matthew and Jacob Czerwonka; $515,000
Oct. 18
653 Dover Street, 30066 (Dover Downs, Kell): Eric Jack to Miguel Perez; $310,000
4365 Chapel Grove Court, 30066 (The Highlands at Wesley Chapel, Lassiter): Christoper Camerieri to Jermaine Walker and Faith Flack-Walker; $1.175 million
2053 Longford Club Drive, 30066 (Longford, Kell): Emily and David Osborne to Alyssa and Austin DeVore; $433,000
Oct. 19
4792 North Sound Street, 30066 (North Landing, Kell): Raivo Sams to Christopher Miletto; $397,500
3762 Ebenezer Road, 30066 (Magnolia Court, Sprayberry): David Wain to Nicole and Alan Curtis; $745,000
1911 Kinridge Road, 30066 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Terry Stancil to Steven and Vicky Andrews; $331,900
1901 Kinridge Road, 30066 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Terry Stancil to Steven and Vicky Andrews; $331,900
1891 Kinridge Road, 30066 (Sandy Plains Estates, Sprayberry): Terry Stancil to Steven and Vicky Andrews; $331,900
645 Smithstone Road, 30067 (Dogwood Station, Wheeler): Louise Farmer to Lynda Kenney; $373,900
Oct. 20
4765 Outlook Way, 30066 (Highland Ridge, Lassiter): Joseph Zummo to Catherine Spencer; $740,000
3042 South Meadow Court, 30062 (Rolling Acres, Pope): Yali Lu to Joshua and Cristina Lett; $560,000
3032 Fredrick Drive, 30062 (Rogers Acres, Sprayberry): Timothy Michael, trustee to Narrow Gates Homes LLC; $200,000
3436 Clubland Drive, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Capital Acres Homes LLC to Sajal and Yogi Patel; $1.723 million
127 Ridgetree Lane, 30068 (Sentinel Lake, Wheeler): Sandra Deebel to Luke and Corinne Jackson; $975,000
Oct. 21
4747 Outlook Way, 30066 (Highland Pointe, Lassiter): Thomas Will to Thomas and Claudia Will; $745,000
3471 Cochran Shore Cove, 30062 (Cochran Lake Shores, Lassiter): Bercher Homes LLC to Eric and Crystal Rood; $1.244 million
2142 Tully Wren, 30066 (Cork Wren, Lassiter): Tracy Turpin to Robert and Samantha Tuttle; $520,000
814 Daisy Drive, 30066 (Noonday, Sprayberry): Melanie Smith and John O’Callaghan to Hayley Rutherford and Joseph Purcell; $320,000
926 Blackwell Court, 30066 (Blackwell Road, Sprayberry): Gregory Spence to Victor McRae and Andrew Johnson; $369,900
2705 Wendy Lane, 30062 (Creek Park, Pope): Samantha Tuttle to Russell and Phyllis Duke; $425,000
1061 Stoneridge Drive, 30066 (Ramblewood, Sprayberry): Ray Taylor to David Lottie and Kristin Nelson-Dorrance; $360,000
2671 Salzburg Drive, 30062 (Alpine Forest, Pope): Richard and Michelle Greenblatt to William and Lois Livingston; $593,900
2910 Prince Howard Drive, 30062 (Corinth, Pope): Karen and Niles Roberts to John and Carly McCain; $550,000
572 Hidden Hills Court, 30066 (Hidden Hills, Sprayberry): Ann Swanlaw to Christina and Robert Hurd; $375,000
2345 Brownstone Court, 30062 (Brownstone, Pope): Jared Kee to Megan and William Bass; $525,000
2030 Kinridge Place Court, 30066 (Kinridge Place, Sprayberry): EK Real Estate Fund LLC to MCH SFR Property Owner 1B LLC; $428,000
3007 Asheton Place, 30068 (Ashebrooke, Walton): Lucil Truong Phillips to Judith Dugan and Jerry Berndt; $680,000
1152 Rebel Ridge Drive, 30062 (Rebel Ridge, Sprayberry): Fred Royals Jr. to Seed Enterprises LLC; $178,000
353 Indian Hills Trail, 30068 (Indian Hills, Walton): Joseph and Karen Neely to Jeremy Edwards and Adriana Miu; $728,500
4486 Winged Foot Circle, 30067 (Paper Mill at ACC, Walton): Eyal Postelnik to Maripoma Enterprise LLC; $3.85 million
2720 Suwanee Way, 30067 (Bentley Ridge, Wheeler): Thomas Wainman to Kurian Thomas; $191,500
1355 Old Virginia Court, 30067 (Salem Ridge, Wheeler): Opendoor Property Trust to Denise Mutombo; $316,500
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Military veterans going back nearly 70 years turned out at East Cobb Park Saturday for an early Veterans Day tribute.
They were treated to hot dogs, hamburgers and other picnic fare, a local band playing Vietnam-era popular music and the thanks of an East Cobb and Marietta community for their service.
“It takes 10 seconds to thank the people who served to make our country a better place,” said Kim Scofi, executive director of United Military Care, which put on Saturday’s event.
It’s an East Cobb-based non-profit that assists veterans in need of food, housing and other assistance with such things as getting their veterans benefits.
The event included World War II-era memorabilia on display from the personal collections of local volunteers called Kelly’s Zeroes.
Several veterans were honored individually, including two veterans of the Korean War.
Walt Cusick Jr., who served in an Army transportation unit in Vietnam and later as an MP, is a longtime member and a commander in the Horace Orr American Legion Post 29 in Marietta.
Like UMC, Post 29—named after the first Mariettan killed in action in World War I—works to keep veterans connected and provides resources and services to those in need.
“It’s really good to see some of those guys,” he said, looking around at the assembled tables of veterans, many of them also from the Vietnam era.
“Think about it, you’re 18, 19 years old and then suddenly you’re in combat. A lot of guys came back and they just went to hide,” Cusick said, referencing anti-war sentiment that greeted some of the returning veterans.
He mentioned the case of Army Lt. William Calley, who was court-martialed for the My Lai massacre of nearly 400 Vietnamese civilians in 1968, who “gave a lot of good people a bad name.”
Veterans from later conflicts, Cusick said, “have more respect.”
He said his experiences in the military—which included stints in the Army Reserves and the National Guard—served him well.
“I grew up a lot,” Cusick said. “I learned a lot about trust and loyalty.”
Post 29 junior commander Tom Blackstock also saluted the families and employers of veteran reservists “who allowed them to go out and take care of our freedom.”
The Tunnel Rats, which has played at previous UMC events, also paid tribute with their rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
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Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler said that 1,046 absentee ballots requested by Cobb voters were never mailed because elections workers failed to upload ballot information to a mailing machine.
Those procedures were not followed on two days in what Eveler called a “human error.”
Absentee ballots must be received at the Cobb Elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday to be counted.
“Last call” absentee ballots also can be hand-delivered to several Cobb library branches from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, including the East Cobb and Mountain View branches.
A release sent by Cobb government Saturday afternoon said that absentee ballots were overnighted to 83 out-of-state addresses of voters who didn’t get those ballots and included pre-paid overnight return envelopes.
Another 194 residents had overnighted absentee ballots that they requested, and 271 other residents in that group cancelled their request and voted during the early voting period that ended Friday, the Cobb release said
The other 498 residents identified, the Cobb release said, “are urged to vote in person on election day.”
The Cobb release said Cobb Elections is attempting to contact them by phone or e-mail to inform them of the issue and direct them to their correct voting precincts.
The errors were discovered after voters who had requested absentee ballots but not received them contacted the Cobb Elections office.
Eveler wrote a note explaining the situation to the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration, a five-member appointed body, saying that “I am sorry that this office let these voters down. Many of the absentee staff have been averaging 80 or more hours per week, and they are exhausted. Still, that is no excuse for such a critical error.”
Tori Silas, the chairwoman of the elections board, said in the Cobb statement that “I am very disappointed that we have placed these voters in a position where they may not have an opportunity to cast their ballots in this general election.”
She pointed to the reduced time for absentee ballots to be requested and returned under a new Georgia elections law and staff turnover in the Cobb Elections office.
“With only three days until election day, we are constrained in what we can do,” Silas said. “That being the case, we are taking every possible step, notwithstanding those constraints, to ensure these voters have an opportunity to cast their ballots.”
As early voting got underway earlier this month, Cobb Elections discovered that 1,112 voters registered in the Sandy Plains 1 precinct in East Cobb were incorrectly given ballots to vote in the Cobb Board of Education Post 4 race.
They live in Post 5, and Eveler said 111 of those voters cast ballots that cannot be changed.
That race features Republican incumbent David Chastain and Democrat Catherine Pozniak in what’s become an intense campaign.
It’s unclear what might happen if the margin of difference in that election is less than 111 votes, but the results could be challenged and a new election could be called.
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!
On Tuesday voters will be going to the polls in the 2022 general elections.
This post rounds up everything we’ve put together before you head to your precinct—if you haven’t already voted. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at all precincts.
Absentee ballots must be received at the Cobb Elections office, either in person or via mail, by 7 p.m. on Tuesday (more details about that below).
Voters in East Cobb will be deciding on a county commissioner and a school board seat, two seats in the U.S. Congress and eight legislative members among local elections.
There’s just one countywide seat being contested, for Cobb Solicitor.
Statewide offices will be decided, including governor, and a U.S. Senate seat is on the ballot.
You can find a consolidated Cobb ballot by clicking here. To get a sample ballot customized for you, and to check which races you will be able to vote in and precinct information, visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page portal by clicking here.
Cobb Elections estimates that more than 175,000 Cobb voters took part in three weeks of early voting at a dozen locations, slightly more than the record numbers of early voters in 2020.
More than 21,000 people voted at bot the East Cobb Government Service Center and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center, trailing only the Smyrna Community Center (22K+) among satellite polling stations.
Cobb Elections has sent out more than 30,00 absentee ballots, with a little more than 19,000 returned and 18,706 accepted, as of Thursday.
But the AJC reported Saturday that around 1,000 absentee ballots that had been requested were not mailed, due to what Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler said were election workers not uploading ballot information to a mailing machine.
Those voters will have to vote in-person at their precinct on Tuesday. So will anyone who received an absentee ballot but either didn’t mail it or cannot deliver it in-person at designated “last call” return locations.
Cobb Elections said absentee ballots can be brought to several library branches, including the East Cobb Library and the Mountain View Regional Library, until 5 p.m. Saturday, and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.
Each location has a registrar who will prepare the ballot on-site for electronic tabulation that will commence with the closing of the polls on Tuesday.
The only way to return an absentee ballot in-person on election day is at the main office for Cobb Elections (995 Roswell Street), from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Voters must present a valid photo identification or a special voter ID card with them to the polls.
Any general election runoffs, if necessary, are scheduled for Dec. 6.
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 Marietta History Center is continuing its series of “Diverse Cobb” programming in November with interviews chronicling the experiences of black military veterans.
“Color My Soldier” is a new series of oral history interviews featuring black Cobb veterans by Tim Penn. He’s the creator of previous Diverse Cobb programming, including “Lemon Street Chronicles” and “Color My Teacher.”
The veterans featured are Clinton Jones, Army; Rev. Jerry Dodd, Army; Vonna Wallace, Air Force; Jessie Bonner Sr., Air Force; and Commander Napoleon Parker Jr., Army.
The interviews can be seen every Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Nov. 30 at the Marietta History Center (1 Depot Street).
Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for seniors 55 and older and students; and free admission for Marietta History Center members, children under 5, and those with a military ID.
The veterans interviews will be available to watch on the Marietta History Center YouTube channel in the future.
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!
It’s a traveling project of Love Love Beyond Walls, and illustrates the stigma of poverty in Atlanta and around the country with interactive technology, research and storytelling.
Exhibit tours will take place Monday, Nov. 7 to Friday, Nov. 11 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the KSU East Parking Deck (305 Hopkins Drive, Kennesaw).
Admission is free but tickets for the tour are required and can be reserved by clicking here.
Terence Lester, founder of Love Beyond Walls and the Dignity Museum, explains that the “one of the most distinguishable characteristics of our organization is our focus on telling the stories of the unseen. We are committed to the people that the world passes by because we believe the people struggling with poverty and sleeping on the streets have lives and stories that are just as valuable as ours.”
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Reapportionment carved up East Cobb substantially across the board for the 2022 elections, including legislative seats.
Two of them—one each in the Georgia House and Senate—are guaranteed to have new representatives.
The Senate District 6 seat was vacated by Jen Jordan, who is the Democratic nominee for Georgia Attorney General. It’s a district that now includes some of East Cobb and the Cumberland area but is mostly in Buckhead, and the two candidates are both from the city of Atlanta.
They are Democrat Jason Esteves, the former chairman of the Atlanta Board of Education, and Republican financial services business owner Fred Glass.
House District 43 has been represented by GOP Rep. Sharon Cooper since 1997, but she was drawn into District 45 (map here), where Republican Matt Dollar served until resigning early in the 2022 legislative session.
A special election was held in April that was won by Republican Mitch Kaye, a former lawmaker who said he would not be running for the seat this fall.
His Democratic opponent, Dustin McCormick, is challenging Cooper, the chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee and who had close calls in the 2018 and 2020 elections.
District 43 (map here) has been redrawn to include much of the East Marietta area, Wheeler attendance zone and the Powers Ferry Road corridor.
Anna Tillman
The candidates vying for that seat are running for office for the first time in a race that could determine party control of the Cobb legislative delegation.
Cobb Democrats hold a one-seat advantage in House representation, and District 43 is in an area of East Cobb that has produced stronger Democratic results in the last two election cycles.
Democrat Solomon Adesanya is a restaurant owner whose priorities are expanding Medicare, protecting abortion rights and addressing climate issues.
Republican Anna Tillman is a retired geologist who is campaigning to support small business, promote job training and technical education and champion public safety, saying she would “oppose radical efforts to defund the police or any other Public Safety organization.”
Two Republican House members from East Cobb are seeking re-election in districts that include some of Cherokee County. They are Don Parsons of District 44 (map here), who was first elected in 1994 and who is the chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee.
His Democratic opponent is Willie Mae Oyogoa, who owns a travel business in Woodstock.
In District 46 (map here), GOP incumbent John Carson is seeking another term against Democrat Micheal Garza, who owns a web development business.
District 37 (map here) retains some portions of Northeast Cobb. Incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Frances Williams is seeking re-election against Tess Redding, who works in the criminal justice field.
State Senate District 32 (map here), which had included most of East Cobb, also has been redrawn to include Woodstock and other areas of Cherokee.
Republican incumbent Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick is seeking a third full term after winning a special election in 2017. The Democratic candidate is Sylvia Bennett, an ordained minister and former social worker.
Georgia Senate District 56 has been expanded from its North Fulton base to include some of East Cobb (map here). Incumbent Republican Sen. John Albers of Roswell, who has been in office since 2011, is running for another two-year term.
His Democratic opponent, also from Roswell, is Patrick Thompson, a clean energy entrepreneur with technology sales and marketing experience.
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 Cobb County School District will be conducting interviews for a number of staff support positions at a job fair in early December.
The fair takes place on Tuesday, Dec. 6, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Cobb Energy Centre (2800 Galleria Parkway).
Open positions include bus drivers, food nutrition workers, school nurses, substitute teachers, custodians, and campus police. The job fair will also include positions with the maintenance, fleet maintenance, and special education departments.
Ahead of the job fair, candidates can preview current vacancies by clicking here.
Online registration is available by clicking here; and a district job application can be completed in advance by clicking here.
Cobb school district staffers will be at the fair to assist those who are unable to submit an advance application.
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Cobb Police Chief Stuart VanHoozer is the featured speaker at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s East Cobb Area Council breakfast next Thursday.
A 32-year department veteran, VanHoozer was appointed in May. He will provide updates about the department, including the construction of a new precinct in East Cobb, as well as policing issues that include gang activities in schools.
The Council meeting begins at 7:30 a.m. next Thursday, Nov. 10, at the Indian Hills Country Club (4001 Clubland Drive).
The event also includes the announcement of the 2022 East Cobb Citizen of the Year.
Tickets are $25 for Cobb Chamber members and $35 for general admission. Registration closes and refunds will no longer be available after November 8. Walk-up admissions and payment cannot be granted.
This event is sponsored by Series Presenting Sponsor, Kaiser Permanente, and Program Sponsor, Cobb EMC.
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