Upcoming Walton High School graduates are celebrated by the Princeton Lake subdivision.
The Cobb County School District is holding 2025 commencement exercises all next week, and the six high schools in East Cobb will be holding their ceremonies at the KSU Convocation Center (590 Cobb Ave., Kennesaw).
Here are the commencement details for high schools in East Cobb:
Sprayberry: Tuesday, May 20, 3:30 p.m. at KSU
Kell: Wednesday, May 21, 3:30 p.m. at KSU
Lassiter: Wednesday, May 21, 7:30 p.m. at KSU
Walton: Thursday, May 22, 2:30 p.m. at KSU
Pope: Friday, May 23, 10 a.m. at KSU
Wheeler: Saturday, May 24, 2:30 p.m. at KSU
The district will live-stream each of the ceremonies (link here with full schedule), but they will not be available for playback. Instead, DVD and USB drive recordings can be purchased for $30 or $35 each, respectively (ordering link here).
Currently the multi-direction turn lane on Lower Roswell Road, just east of the Johnson Ferry intersection, is closed as work crews are on the scene.
They’re directing traffic in multiple directions, including vehicles turning eastbound out of the businesses along the north side of Lower Roswell.
That turn lane will be converted to a median between Johnson Ferry and Davidson Road as a major component of the project, as Cobb DOT said it is essential to improving safety in the corridor.
The median was the subject of concern from some of those business owners as well as the public.
Also, if you’re heading southbound on Johnson Ferry and attempting to turn left (eastbound) on Lower Roswell, one of the two turn lanes is closed for the time being.
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 35th rendering of the Marietta Greek Festival starts Friday afternoon and goes through Sunday afternoon at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church (3431 Trickum Road). Parking is free, including the satellite lots at Simpson MS and the Church of Latter-Day Saints, with site transportation provided by complimentary shuttle bus.
A wide range of homemade Greek foods, music, dancing, church tours and atmosphere about in this venerable community celebration of Greek culture.
The Taverna offers adults the opportunity to quench their thirst with Greek wine, beer, and liqueur, while the Greek Street Food tent offers delightful portable food options. Be sure to take a guided tour of the Byzantine style sanctuary to see the beautiful iconography and learn more about the Orthodox faith.
Admission is $5 and children under 12 are free. This year the festival is offering special online ticket packages that include free admission, as well as other substantial coupon deals.The festival also donates a portion of its proceeds to local charities.
On Saturday, the Atlanta-based choral ensemble Coro Vocati will be concert starting at 7 p.m. at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church (571 Holt Road). The theme is “Two Rivers,” and features eight pairs of songs–including both choral classics and new, less discovered work that serve as a study of the contrasts found within the life experience.
Tickets are $12 for students at $20 for adults and can be purchased by clicking here.
Sunday is the final concert in the Music in the Park spring series at East Cobb Park (3322 Roswell Road). The musical guests are the Dark Star Brothers Band (formerly Men in Blues), who perform blues, folk, Americana, country, pop and rock tunes with some jazz infusion.
Presented by Wellstar, East Cobb Rotary and Frameworks gallery, the concert is from 4-6 in the back concert shell and is free to the public. You can bring food, a blanket and chairs to enjoy.
The fall Music in the Park begins after Labor Day.
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If your organization or entity is holding an event that’s open to the public, please send East Cobb News your information and we’ll be glad to post it!
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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!
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 Board of Education will hold a final public hearing Thursday before being asked to adopt the fiscal year 2026 budget.
The Cobb County School District has proposed a budget of $1.8 billion that holds the line on the property tax rate and provides modest pay raises.
The budget public hearing starts at 6:30 p.m., and the board’s monthly voting meeting, which includes tentative budget adoption, starts at 7 p.m.
(The budget proposal can be found at this link that includes general fund and other funding source breakdowns.)
The board also will hold a work session starting at 2 p.m. Thursday.
All meetings take place in the board room of the CCSD Central Office, at 514 Glover St. in Marietta. An executive session will follow the work session.
Last month the school board tentatively adopted the budget proposal that includes raises up to 4.6 percent for eligible employees and maintains a propery tax rate of 18.7 mills.
The budget proposal includes using $43 million in reserve funding to help balance the budget, with the property tax rate holding steady at 18.7 mills for the third year in a row. The district has a fund balance of $198 million.
“It’s not a great budget, but it’s far from gloom and doom,” Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said.
But he said there are “storm clouds” possible beyond the coming academic year.
The Cobb property tax digest is projected to grow only by two percent in 2025, lower than in recent years.
Among the personnel changes in the proposed budget is shifting 57 school-leaving interventionist positions to fill classroom vacancies.
The interventionists help detect possible learning issues, but Ragsdale said their work will continue, just in different fashion.
Another 68 teachers who had been on special assignment will be also redirected to classroom teaching positions.
The Cobb school district’s fiscal year runs from July 1-June 30.
Also on Thursday, the school board will get and update at the work session on county demographics that affect long-term enrollment planning.
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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy is proud to welcome Jill Hunt as the school’s new Head of Lower School. Ms. Hunt comes to MBCA from Lipscomb Academy, a 2-year-old through 12th grade school in Nashville, Tennessee, where she has been serving as the Head of Lower School. She brings 16 years of experience in education, including 11 years in leadership roles where she has guided schools to the highest distinctions in achievement, growth, and culture.
Ms. Hunt has served as assistant principal and principal in the Williamson and Hickman County public school systems and has taught kindergarten and first grade. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Child and Family Studies & Education and a Master’s in Education Administration.
A passionate and student-centered leader, Ms. Hunt makes all decisions with one priority in mind: what is best for students. “I believe school should be a joyful and safe place where children are challenged to meet their limitless potential,” she shares. “It should be a place where academic excellence and spiritual growth go hand-in-hand.”
She has expressed her desire to serve and inspire, seeking to make school “a child’s happy place” where they grow academically and are “equipped to understand Biblical principles,” where “staff members feel valued…and make a meaningful impact on the world.” Jill has been seeking a “both-and” school—one fully committed to both academic excellence and spiritual development—and she is thrilled to have found that at MBCA.
Jill is a mother of three, two of whom will attend MBCA in the fall, with a future Eagle joining in a year. She lives by the Golden Rule: “Treat people the way you want to be treated,” a principle that deeply shapes her leadership style and relationships within the school community.
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“I don’t think it’s the role of government to do this,” Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said.
On a party-line vote Tuesday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved spending $108,000 for the MUST Ministries summer cooling center.
The vote was 3-2, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed.
The item was on the board’s consent agenda, but was moved to the regular agenda for the purposes of having a discussion.
GOP commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill said they weren’t opposed to the cooling center, but said the county shouldn’t be funding charities.
“I don’t think it’s the role of government to do this,” Birrell said. “We do it for one [non-profit], we get a lot of requests from others. I would like to revisit this if it’s going to be in the budget this year.”
This will be the second year in a row that Cobb is directly providing funding to MUST for the cooling center, which is open to the homeless when temperatures exceed 90 degrees during daytime hours.
Likewise, Cobb has funded MUST operations for heating assistance during the winter. The funds have come from a $500,000 allotment to the Cobb Emergency Management Agency.
According to an agenda item (you can read it here), $40,000 of the cooling center funding is earmarked for families to stay in hotels “to ensure they stay together.”
Another $25,000 is to go for additional security at the MUST Hope House venue at 1297 Bells Ferry Road, with the rest to provide additional food, cleaning supplies, staffing and transportation from South Cobb (you can read the agreement here).
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, a Democrat, said there is “misinformation” being spread about Cobb funding charities, said “this is an initiative of the county, and not of MUST.
“We’ve had conversations with a number of partners because of concerns about people being outside during extreme temperatures,” she said. “It’s not necessarily to fund MUST operations, but they’re coming in and asking us to partner.”
She said the amount of effort to place homeless people in county facilities in the winter and summer was overwhelming, and that “MUST was able to step up.”
Marietta resident Christine Rozman, a frequent speaker at board public comment sessions, said before the vote: “We shouldn’t be paying for charities.”
Gambrill said that she’s “heard a lot of discussions today about grants and conversations, but I was never included in these conversations and that is why I don’t support this.
“It’s not that I don’t support helping people in need, but we are essentially giving MUST a heads-up over other non-profit agencies which as a government we should not be doing. We should be treating them all equally.”
Cupid said she has had “multiple meetings” with members of Cobb faith communities who have expressed concerns about how to care for the homeless during extreme weather situations and “that helps us in determining that this was something we wanted to do.”
Cobb EMA director Cassie Mazloom said that MUST offers security, “which is so important” and that it “makes it a more pleasant atmosphere and a more safe atmosphere for everyone.”
Tuesday’s meeting was the first for District 2 Commissioner Erick Allen, a Democrat and former Georgia legislator, who last month won a special election to serve the area that includes most the Cumberland-Smyrna area and along the I-75 corridor.
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East Cobb will be getting a Einstein Bros. Bagel location soon.
Renovations are getting underway at a space at Providence Square Shopping Center (4101 Roswell Road, Suite 801), between Sprouts and Mattress Firm.
The store’s website says it’s open, but when we went by on Monday, there was only a branded “coming soon” sign and the start of filling out of the interior.
In response to a message from East Cobb News, Gabe Washburn, a public relations representative for Einstein Bros., said that “I don’t have a hard opening date quite yet, but we are hoping to be open early summer.”
This will be the second Einstein Bros. in Cobb County (along with another on Barrett Parkway) and 22nd in metro Atlanta.
In addition to bagel items, Einstein Bros. serves up bagel-based breakfast and lunch sandwiches. The company began in 1995 by Boston Chicken and was purchased along with Caribou Coffee by Panera Breads in 2021.
The fruit-bowl shop chain Playa Bowls will be entering the East Cobb market soon.
The 11-year-old New Jersey-based company will be occupying space at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center formerly held by Clean Juice (1255 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 124).
Playa Bowls serves a menu of açaí, pitaya, coconut bowls and smoothies, inspired by surf locations in the U.S. and Central America.
The chain has more than 300 locations, including eight in Georgia. The East Cobb store will be the first in Cobb County.
Clean Juice did not announce a closing, but the Woodlawn Square shop’s location is no longer listed on the company website. Its most recent social media posting was in early April.
Following up the Taste of East Cobb, here are some of the honorees as chosen by attendees:
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 County Public Library invites the community to its annual Summer Reading Kickoff Party, a celebration of books, community, and summertime fun, on Saturday, June 7, 2025, from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM at Switzer Library, conveniently located near the Marietta Square at 266 Roswell St. NE, Marietta, GA 30060.
Last year’s kickoff event drew over 1,400 attendees and featured the memorable debut of the library’s new mascot, Rita Book, whose name was selected from over 200 imaginative submissions from the community.
This year’s event promises even more excitement with the theme “Color Our World,” encouraging readers of all ages to explore the diverse world of stories, cultures, and ideas that make our lives richer. Families can anticipate engaging craft stations for all ages, lively music from the in-house DJ, interactive activities, opportunities to win exciting prizes, and photo opportunities with beloved mascots Rita Book and Dewey.
“Our Summer Reading Program reflects months of careful planning, typically starting six to seven months in advance, all to ensure it provides meaningful and fun experiences for readers of all ages right here in Cobb County, a go-to destination for family fun,” states Slone Williams, Community and User Engagement Division Manager. “With over 400,000 library cardholders, we are dedicated to creating a program that is both inclusive and enjoyable for every family in our community. We extend our sincere gratitude to our numerous community partners, county departments, and the Cobb Library Foundation, whose ongoing support makes this vital initiative possible year after year.”
The community is encouraged to register for the summer reading challenge at cobbcat.org/summer or sign up at any library branch to begin logging their reading, earning rewards, and participating in the many engaging programs scheduled throughout June and July.
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The Cobb Chamber of Commerce named The Music Studio Atlanta the 2025 Woman-Owned Business of the Year and a Top 25 Small Business of the Year for its remarkable innovation, sound approach to organizational challenges and positive impact on the community. This is the third year in a row The Music Studio has been named a Top 25 Small Business of the Year.
The 2025 Woman-Owned Business of the Year award recognizes a small business that has attained outstanding business achievement and exemplifies the significant contributions made by women-owned businesses in the county. The Cobb Chamber awarded The Music Studio with both of these awards at their May Marquee Monday breakfast at the Coca-Cola Roxy.
“We are incredibly honored and thankful to receive both of these awards from the Cobb Chamber,” says Cecilia Rowe, owner and founder of The Music Studio. “For more than 30 years, we’ve remained dedicated to delivering the highest quality music instruction. I believe it’s the unique blend of exceptional teachers, our proprietary rewards-based curriculum, and our longstanding experience that has brought us to this moment of recognition.”
“We are proud to honor The Music Studio Atlanta as the 2025 Woman-Owned Business of the Year Award winner, a testament of the innovation and drive that defines Cobb County’s business community,” said Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber.
To be considered for the Cobb Chamber’s Small Business of the Year awards, each hopeful submits an application to the Cobb Chamber. The applicants must provide key factors contributing to the company’s success, provide examples of innovation, discuss adversity and challenges, and thoroughly detail their community involvement. Applications are analyzed and considered by a group of independent community business leaders and affiliates of the Small Business Administration.
The 2025 Small Business of the Year Award is sponsored by LOUD Security Systems, Inc. and S.A. White Oil Company.
About The Music Studio Atlanta The Music Studio Atlanta opened in 2011 growing out of Courtnay & Rowe In-Home Music Academy and continuing a 30+ year tradition of offering quality music lessons to thousands of Atlanta students, of all ages and levels. With locations in Vinings and East Cobb, this multi-award winning studio offers lessons in piano, voice, guitar, drums, strings, woodwinds and preschool music, 7 days a week and employs a large roster of top-notch teachers and support staff.
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Over the weekend we published stories that resonated with our readers—the apparently permanent closing of a favorite restaurant in the East Cobb area, and the story of a local couple being detained by immigration authorities after living here for many years.
We saw it not only in the traffic numbers, but in the conversations they generated, and we’ll be following up both stories as more developments arise in both of them.
It’s what we do at East Cobb News—provide you with local news that matters, that goes deeper into this community than any other information source. We’d like your financial support to help us do that, and you can click below to do that here.
It’s what we’ve based our editorial and business models around, and they do go hand-in-hand. East Cobb News is a reader-focused, community-driven news, information and local business promotion source, first and foremost.
We make this resource free to all readers because we want local news to be accessible to all. As we’ve told you before, local news is bearing the brunt of what’s happening in the changing media landscape, and most outlets have decided to lock down that access to their readers.
There’s nothing more frustrating that logging into a news website that already throws up a paywall—urging you to “unlock” their precious content—then being subject to automatic videos and other intrusive messages before you get to read a story.
Or even more maddening, they make you keep logging in every few days, despite having an active account that’s paid-up.
The truth is that most traditional news outlets—newspapers, magazines and television and radio stations—treat their online operations as afterthoughts. I know this from experience, and when I set out to create East Cobb News, I was adamant about changing this.
It wasn’t going to be the newspaper or radio station online, but the community news source that put the community first.
For nearly eight years now, we’ve worked hard to live up to that promise, and sought feedback—good, bad or otherwise—from readers about how to make East Cobb News better.
In recent months, I’ve been asking readers for voluntary financial contributions, and many of you have responded so generously.
I thank all of you who have, and I’d like to ask those of you who have not to consider making a donation. Click the button below to provide your support.
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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!
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!
Juan Lima, at right, said his parents Osnei and Sandra Lima came to the U.S. from Brazil in 1999 “with nothing and they gave me everything.” Photos from Juan Lima’s social media accounts.
The son of an East Cobb couple whom he said is being detained by federal immigration authorities said Friday that “the next week is extremely crucial to my parents’ case.”
Juan Lima, who attended Pope High School, wrote in a long social media post last Friday, May 2, that his parents, Osnei and Sandra Lima, were visited by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on April 30, and then taken into custody at the agency’s Atlanta field office.
From there, they were transferred to an ICE detention facility in Georgia several hours away, where they remain, according to Juan Lima on the social media posting.
When reached by East Cobb News on Friday, Juan Lima said he couldn’t say more about his parents’ current status because “we are trying to proceed with as much caution and wisdom as possible.”
He did not respond to follow-up questions about where they were being detained or why they were picked up by ICE.
But in an online fundraising appeal he updated Saturday, Lima said that his parents will be having bond hearings on Wednesday.
“That’s not just ‘fast’—that is a MIRACLE! When professionals said, ‘it could take weeks, months perhaps’… God says, ‘this is the perfect stage for the impossible to become POSSIBLE!’ ” Juan Lima said in the message.
Thus far, Juan Lima has raised more than $50,000, with the funds going to paying an attorney.
The Limas were apprehended during a massive nationwide immigration sweep by the Trump administration that has generated widespread controversy, and is being fought in the courts by immigration advocates.
The Limas came from Brazil in 1999, when Juan was eight months old, and according to their son, they have been model immigrants, running their own business and being involved in their church.
In an interview with “The Jim Acosta Show” on Monday, Juan Lima indicated that the immigration issue with his parents involved overstaying their visas, but he didn’t elaborate.
“My parents have lived in the U.S. for 26 years. They have no criminal record,” Juan Lima said in the Facebook post, which he later copied to a GoFundMe page to solicit donations.
“They pay taxes, knowing they may never benefit from them. They are loving, faithful, hardworking people who have spent their lives giving back to their community and church. They are worship leaders, volunteers, Bible study teachers—always helping others.
“My parents have been placed in one of the worst detention centers in the state—described by our attorney as ‘a tier above hell itself,’ ” Juan Lima continued in his appeal.
“It breaks my heart to know they are suffering simply for wanting to build a better life, and I cannot bring them home without your help.”
The Limas have been living in a rental home off Holly Springs Road and are the owners of a house cleaning business.
Their son said ICE personnel arrived at the home in unmarked cars and wearing plainclothes attire early on the morning of April 30, as the Limas prepared for work, and ordered the couple to come with them to the ICE office in Atlanta.
Juan Lima, a youth pastor at a non-denominational church in Cumming, said his parents were told to bring with them some personal belongings and their passports. Since then, he and an attorney have been trying to get answers.
There are two ICE detention facilities in Georgia, in Lumpkin, south of Columbus, and in Folkston, on the Florida state line near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
A search of the ICE online detainee locater tool did not turn up any results naming the Limas; East Cobb News has contacted the Atlanta ICE field office seeking more information.
Juan Lima speaking with former CNN anchor Jim Acosta Monday.
In the interview with Acosta, a former CNN anchor who recently went independent on the Substack media platform, Juan Lima said the ICE detention facility where his parents are staying is overcrowded.
He said his father didn’t have a mattress, and was sleeping on the floor in a cell.
“I’m just a son trying to advocate for my parents,” Juan Lima told Acosta. “These are the real Americans we need to embrace. . . . Amid the questions, we still have hope.”
He was speaking to Acosta with an American flag hanging behind him on a wall.
“All I’ve ever known is this country,” Juan Lima said. “All I’ve ever known is this community that surrounds me.
“It hurts that my parents are treated this way. They came with nothing and gave me everything. They were not told why this happened.”
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Several months after attempting to turn a Canton Road restaurant into a liquor store, the owner of Bay Breeze Seafood said the dining establishment is “closed until further notice.”
In a posting on Facebook Friday night, Bay Breeze management didn’t give a reason, and didn’t indicate if or when the restaurant might reopen.
“After 15 years I am sad to say that we will be closed until further notice. Thank you all for your support and for being part of the Bay Breeze Marietta Family!” the message stated.
“If you are looking for delicious seafood and Bay Breeze favorites come visit us at our location in Mableton, Georgia. Marietta gift cards are still valid there. Thank you all!”
East Cobb News has left a message with Bay Breeze seeking more information.
Bay Breeze is located at 2418 Canton Road, just below the intersection of Piedmont Road, and specialized in serving fresh grilled and fried seafood entrees and platters.
But last fall, ownership applied with Cobb County government to convert the 10,000-square-foot freestanding building into a liquor store.
The Cobb Business License Division denied the application after community opposition surfaced, and the denial was upheld by the Cobb Business License Review Board.
Owner Steve Constantinou appealed those denials, and his request was to have gone before the Cobb Board of Commissioners in September.
But a week later, Constantinou withdrew the request for an appeal with prejudice, meaning the case could not come back up again.
Several commenters on Bay Breeze’s Facebook posting Friday and Saturday said they were surprised by the news of the restaurant’s closure.
A woman said she drove 45 minutes to dine there “and the doors were locked and lights were out.”
Another poster replied that “well you can blame that on our owner. He didn’t tell us anything. We had all been there for years and now we are jobless. We were told we might open back up, but now seeing this post, I guess that’s not happening.”
Another customer said that the “last time I went there the food was not what it use to be and prices had gone up a lot. Used to go couple of times a week. Sorry.”
In addition to the Mableton location on Veterans Memorial Highway, Bay Breeze also operates a restaurant in Hampton, south of Atlanta.
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PORCH Marietta has been providing healthy snacks for students in Title I schools in Cobb County since 2022.
Submitted information:
PORCH Marietta, an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to reducing food insecurity, announces its upcoming event at the Marietta Wine Market (18 Powder Springs Street) on May 17 from 2-4 pm. All 21+ are invited to attend for wine tasting, purchasing and raffle items.
The event supports PORCH Marietta’s PORCH for Schools program. Through this initiative, PORCH provides healthy snacks for students in local Title 1 schools so they can stay fueled up and ready to learn all day. Hungry students can’t focus on learning, and teachers shouldn’t have to pay for students’ snacks themselves.
“We hope to raise enough money to provide for these schools for next school year. Together, we can make a significant difference towards reducing food insecurity in our neighborhood,” said Liz Platner, chapter leader of PORCH Marietta.
Fair Oaks Elementary teacher Carmen Meek commented, “Most of my students are newcomers to this country. These students have very little when they come. As a teacher it is a blessing to know that the PORCH organization has been so generous, faithfully sending healthy and delicious snacks to my students. My students are learning and growing which can make for a long day at school. Many times they need that extra snack to finish their day. They look forward to receiving the snacks. I know their families appreciate it.”
PORCH Communities was started in 2011 in Chapel Hill, and there are now over 550 neighborhoods in 13 states serving their local communities. PORCH chapters have gathered and distributed more than $15 million worth of food to neighbors in need. The PORCH-Marietta chapter was founded in February 2022.
Contributing non-perishable food to 15 local food pantries on a monthly basis is the flagship program of PORCH Marietta. To date, PORCH-Marietta has donated over 100,000 pounds of food to these pantries. They collect food via monthly neighborhood food drives, based on customized wish lists from the pantries. Neighbors put the requested groceries out on their porch and volunteers pick it up and deliver it to the pantries. Currently there are 50 Marietta neighborhoods participating. To get involved or add your neighborhood to the team contact marietta@porchcommunities.org. For more information or to make a financial contribution, visit PORCH Marietta’s website.
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Let East Cobb News know what’s going on with your organization, or about any recognitions, to share with the community. We love to get photos and stories like the above, as well as calendar event listings and more.
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Cobb Community Foundation CEO Shari Martin celebrating with streamers at the 2025 Activate Good event. Photos courtesy Cobb Community Foundation.
Submitted information and photos:
Cobb came together on May 1, 2025, to celebrate a year of shared generosity, collaboration and impact at the second annual Activate Good event, hosted by Cobb Community Foundation (CCF). The evening marked the release of the organization’s 2024 Impact Report and recognized the powerful outcomes that result when of neighbors, donors, nonprofits and businesses working side by side.
Held at The Foxglove in downtown Marietta, the event welcomed approximately 200 guests, including community leaders, fundholders, donors, nonprofit partners and other stakeholders. Together, they reflected on a year when individuals and organizations across Cobb County didn’t just give—they activated good, united by a shared commitment to making life better for all.
“This wasn’t just a celebration—it was a rallying cry,” said Shari Martin, president and CEO of Cobb Community Foundation. “At CCF, we mobilize people, ideas and resources—but real impact happens only when the community is ready to be mobilized. And like it always does, in 2024, Cobb showed up.”
Together, CCF and the Cobb community accomplished extraordinary things:
– Over $6.2 million in grants and scholarships were distributed, with 68% staying right here in Cobb County.
– The Match Magic Giveathon raised a record-breaking $811,000 for 25 local nonprofits—driven by donors, volunteers, and partners who energized the campaign from start to finish.
– Mental health access expanded, early childhood education grew, and nonprofit leaders received critical training—all made possible by individuals and organizations who chose to give back.
– A new initiative, the Be Somebody Savings Fund, launched in partnership with Marietta City Schools, offering students up to $1,000 for reaching key milestones between 9th and 12th grades.
Guests received the 2024 Impact Report and a commitment card listing ways to stay engaged—through fund creation, joining the Catalyst Society, supporting existing programs, or simply sharing ideas.
The evening concluded with applause, gratitude and a shared sense of purpose. “Every student helped, every family lifted, every nonprofit strengthened—it all happened because our community acted together,” Martin said.
To view the full Impact Report or learn how to activate good alongside Cobb Community Foundation, visit cobbfoundation.org.
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Marietta Police said Friday they have arrested two men who are wanted on outstanding murder warrants in Memphis as part of a gang-related narcotics sweep at a home in the East Cobb area.
Police said on Friday that four people were taken into custody by the Marietta Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team and Special Operations Group (SOG) after a search warrant was executed at a home near the Marietta Loop and Powers Ferry Road.
In a social media posting, Marietta Police said that the two men and two women were arrested early Thursday morning at the home, located on Crestridge Drive in the Hamby Acres neighborhood.
Martavious Jenkins, 34, of Memphis, and Lecameron Jenkins, 24, of Memphis, were wanted on two counts of murder and eight counts of attempted murder each in their hometown.
They also were charged with one count each of being a fugitive from justice, as well as five felony narcotics charges each, including intent to distribute a variety of drugs.
Also charged were Maria Jenkins, 25, of Memphis and Jade Brown, 19, of Memphis, both with five intent to distribute narcotics charges, according to police.
According to Cobb Sheriff’s Office booking reports, all four are being held without bond at the Cobb Adult Detention Center, as Marietta Police said they “will facilitate their transfer back to Memphis.”
Marietta Police said they were informed by the Memphis Police gang unit that an ongoing homicide investigation begun in late April led them to Marietta, and that Marietta authorities began their own probe along with the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force.
Police said that narcotics were in “plain sight” at the Crestridge Drive home as they executed the search warrant late Wednesday night, and that another search warrant was secured for the property.
According to police, a variety of drugs were seized on the scene, including MDMA, Oxycodone, Psilocybin Mushrooms, THC gummies, and more than five pounds of marijuana.
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The Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team was the proud Title Sponsor of Saturday’s Fiesta 5K Challenge in Cumming, GA. An inspiring annual event benefiting the Emory ALS Research Center. Organized by Cure for ALS, the race united nearly 400 participants in a shared mission: to raise critical funds and awareness for the fight against Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
Janice Overbeck had the proud honor of co-hosting the awards ceremony, celebrating the accomplishments of runners and walkers who showed up rain or shine in support of this life-changing cause.
The Emory ALS Research Center is recognized as a national leader in ALS research and clinical care. The center is at the forefront of uncovering the causes of ALS, pioneering innovative treatment strategies, and advancing clinical trials that offer new hope to patients and their families. Thanks to these efforts, many ALS patients are living longer, higher-quality lives, but the urgency for continued research remains.
“We are honored to support such a meaningful cause and contribute to groundbreaking research that offers hope to so many,” said Janice Overbeck, founder of The Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team. “It was incredible to see our community come together to run, walk, and stand in solidarity with those affected by ALS.”
The Fiesta 5K Challenge has become a beacon of community spirit and advocacy, with proceeds directly benefiting the continued efforts of Emory’s researchers and clinicians.
Photo from left: Janice Overbeck, Chandley Overbeck, Jane Knowles, Aiden Seidell, Katherine KnowlesJanice Overbeck and Meraida, recently retired from Emory ALS clinic handing out awards.
Send Us Your News!
Let East Cobb News know what’s going on with your organization, or about any recognitions, to share with the community. We love to get photos and stories like the above, as well as calendar event listings and more.
We want to be the go-to source for all the many ways people in East Cobb are involved in the community.
It’s what we call The Power of Local, and we’d love for you to take part!
Pass along your details/photos/videos/information to: editor@eastcobbnews.com, and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.
Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.
We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file, but d0 send them as attachments to your email.
Of course, send us links that are relevant to your message so we can direct people to your website.
Thanks for your cooperation and we look forward to hearing from you!
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The Cobb County Opioid Abatement Advisory Council is now accepting applications from eligible organizations seeking funding to combat the opioid crisis through prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction initiatives.
Funded by national opioid settlement agreements, the Cobb County Opioid Abatement Fund supports evidence-based programs that directly address the impact of opioid misuse in the community. The 2025 application cycle opens May 8 and will remain open through July 11.
Applications are welcome from government agencies, nonprofit organizations, healthcare providers, and community partners serving Cobb County. Funding may support projects in the following categories (including, but not limited to):
Treatment Services: Projects that expand access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), increase detox and treatment bed capacity, support treatment for justice-involved individuals, and promote telemedicine, mobile treatment units, and maternal health services.
Prevention Programs: Youth education, public awareness campaigns, safe prescribing education for physicians, and family- or community-based prevention initiatives.
Recovery Support Services: Programs offering peer recovery coaching, sober living support, housing and employment assistance, post-overdose care (“warm hand-offs”), and transportation to recovery programs.
Harm Reduction Strategies: Distribution of naloxone and fentanyl test strips, overdose prevention education, and creation of centralized naloxone access points.
Applicants must demonstrate a measurable impact, evidence of community collaboration, and alignment with national and state opioid response strategies.
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Eight more students from East Cobb have been awarded National Merit Scholarships. The National Merit $2,500 Scholarship winners come from six different schools.
According to a release from the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, the recipients are “judged to have the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills, and potential for success in rigorous college studies. The number of winners named in each state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the nation’s graduating high school seniors.”
These scholarships are financed by the Corporation, which announces recipients through the end of the school year.
Vipul Bansal, Walton: Probable career field: Consulting
Podtakorn Detchprohm, Fulton Science Adademy: Probable career field: Industrial Engineering
Elizabeth George, Lassiter: Probable career field: Chemical Engineering
Mara Claire Hanlon, Campbell: Probable career field: Nursing
Elizabeth Anne Jones, Pope: Probable career field: Ecology
Riley E. Rice, Walton: Probable career field: Medicine
Ryan Zee-Jay Tan, Walton: Probable career field: Aerospace Engineering
Julia Wolgast, Holy Innocents Episcopal School: Probable career field: Medicine
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!
