Local businesses can sign up now for the 2022 Cobb Chamber Taylor English Golf Classic on Monday, Sept. 19 at Indian Hills Country Club in East Cobb.
The event helps businesses enjoy time with business friends, clients or prospects, and to network with Cobb Chamber leadership and board members.
More from the Chamber on what’s slated, and how to sign up:
“The cost is $265 per golfer or $1,000 per foursome. This annual sell-out event fills up fast, so participants are encouraged to register early to be guaranteed a spot.
“The four-person, Ft. Lauderdale scramble begins with a shotgun start at 11 a.m. Registration and the driving range open at 9 a.m. and the chipping/putting contest is at 9:15 a.m. Box lunches are provided on the cart.
“Businesses can take advantage of the marketing opportunity the tournament presents through several levels of sponsorship. Sponsorship participation allows local businesses to show support for the Cobb Chamber and those participating, along with positive messaging for their company. All sponsorship levels include different forms of signage and advertising at the event and recognition in Chamber communications. The top levels include event tickets.
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 been a momentous ride through the first five years of East Cobb News.
I sit down to write this very special Editor’s Note exactly five years to the day I published the first post on East Cobb News.
July 8, 2017 was a Saturday, as punishingly hot then as what we’ve been experiencing in recent weeks, and I scrambled to find some shade in the parking lot at Sprayberry High School.
The Cherokee Wingmen Club had organized a fundraiser to benefit the Lcpl Skip Wells Foundation in the memory of the Sprayberry graduate and Marine officer who was killed in a terrorist attack in 2015 at the Chattanooga Naval Marine Reserve Center.
The lot filled with motorcyclists and as they revved up their engines, the sound roared across that busy Northeast Cobb quadrant with a vengeance.
As they filtered out onto Piedmont Road (see photo at the top), I hoped I had enough good photos to put together something publishable with my maiden post.
Among the many good news stories we’ve done at East Cobb News was the 30th anniversary of the Good Mews cat shelter.
To be honest, I had no idea when I set out for Sprayberry that day what I was going to do, or if anyone would notice. Not just for that story, but for others that followed.
It was just about getting started with an independent, truly community-focused local news website that I had planned for several months.
What I simply dubbed East Cobb News was actually the culmination of several years of reimagining more than 25 years of journalism experience in the corporate world.
Local news has been especially vulnerable to the catastrophic declines in legacy news media, and local news operations rooted in specific communities are even more endangered.
Corporate media entities like Gannett and investment firms and hedge funds have gobbled up local newspapers and stripped them down to practically nothing, booting longtime journalists and robbing citizens of vital news and information.
A hardy band of independents scattered across the country has been trying not just to fill the gap but offer a throwback to community news the way it used to be done.
My vision wasn’t original—serve readers and advertisers with professionally reported news and useful community information. The blessing of having an all-online format was that this could be done without being beholden to a print production cycle.
I had previously tried my hand at this as the founding editor of East Cobb Patch, a hyperlocal network started by AOL. After that effort foundered, AOL sold it off and I was out of a job.
A drive-by holiday light display shone brightly during two Christmas seasons under COVID.
But a seed was planted in my mind that a ground-up, grassroots approach would serve East Cobb well.
The comments I got from readers was encouraging. Yet going at it this way, especially in an area with The Marietta Daily Journal and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution—where I had spent most of my newspaper career—and other local outlets was daunting.
Another hyperlocal publisher told me when I started that if you can persevere, you can make it. I had no idea then what that would entail.
Five years, and nearly 4,000 posts later, I’m proud of what’s been built at East Cobb News. Over the last year, we’ve been averaging more than 120,000 page views and 60,000 unique visitors a month, and our newsletter subscribers total nearly 7,000.
There have been challenges and struggles and occasions when I questioned whether what I was doing would ever be enough.
In early 2019, I lost my mother, and that had a profound effect on me that continues today.
For the last two and a half years, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered many things. It provided me with a silver lining, as traffic increased due to coverage of the community response, especially schools, business closings, events and more.
Readers had come to this site to learn about those things, and some had expressed the value of what they found here. That, more than anything, helped me to keep pushing forward.
An East Cobb Cityhood effort that began in 2018 resulted in a whopping defeat in a May referendum.
There were days during those initial months of COVID when I wondered if I would write about anything else.
When the vaccines arrived, I received harrowing phone messages from frantic seniors, unable to contact the health department, desperately trying to book appointments.
Then we had educators in the Cobb school district who had died from COVID, and blistering criticisms of the district and school board ensued. Not long after that, a family member of mine became seriously ill from the virus, and it was touch and go for a few weeks before he began to recover.
It was in early 2021 that was the most difficult stretch, when I began to think if I wanted to continue with this. In a long career as a reporter, editor and now publisher, had I had enough?
But readers and so many others in the community helped me through, not just with comments and helpful feedback but by sending their own news of recognitions, honors and accomplishments.
There were so many important stories to tackle that have galvanized this community that couldn’t be ignored: The East Cobb cityhood saga, the Tokyo Valentino adult store controversy, the Mt. Bethel Church dispute, the Sprayberry Crossing and East Cobb Church rezoning cases.
Citizens demanding the redevelopment of Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center finally got their wish.
East Cobb News broke and/or led coverage of those stories, the stories that have the biggest impact to this community. I’m especially proud of that, and if it sounds like bragging, my apologies. Focusing on what really matters to a community is the foundation of everything I do.
After a lifetime of answering to corporate managers, and doing the news to curry access to movers and shakers, there’s nothing more gratifying that working on behalf of your neighbors and fellow local business owners and community members.
There is so much more work to do in a vibrant community that continues to change, and I’m eager to get started with that.
We have another round of elections in November, and a new school year is just around the corner. Zoning and development issues continue to resonate in East Cobb, and many local businesses are trying to regain their footing and figure out this post-pandemic world.
So is East Cobb News. Many of the editorial and business plans I set aside as COVID-19 was declared I’m restarting and revising now, and you’ll hear more about them soon.
I’ve sent out a reader survey to ask all of you what you like about East Cobb News, and what you don’t, what you think we can do different, or better.
Your responses (here’s the survey link) will help me guide the next phase of this publication, which I want to grow beyond daily news.
I’m reading through some of the survey results now, and they’re very interesting and helpful. I’ll share them in a future column.
While I don’t really get into too much anniversary stuff, I wanted to take this occasion to thank all of you for your thoughts, suggestions and support over these last five years.
East Cobb News is in this for the long haul, and I want to fashion this into a community voice for all of you. There is no more honorable mission.
Enjoy the rest of your summer, and please stay in touch.
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 following East Cobb food scores for the week of July 4 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 addresses include ZIP Codes and the subdivision names and high school districts are in parenthesis:
June 13
5009 Kingsley Manor Court, 30066 (Kingsley Manor Estates, Kell): Capstone Fund LLC to George Thomas and Jennifer Cumberbatch; $720,000
4498 Browning Court, 30066 (Winchester Manor, Lassiter): Pamela and Michael Roberts to Pamela Roberts; $323,390
3187 Walking Stick Overlook, 30066 (Wigley Preserve, Lassiter): John Hacek to Christopher and Tamara Fudger; $829,000
4267 Trickum Road, 30066 (Kell): GCO Capital LLC to 510 SFR Ga. Operations LLC; $390,000
598 Charing Cross Drive, 30066 (Canterbury North, Sprayberry): Wayne and Diana Tollison to Shania Janelle Oke; $450,000
3936 Bellair Drive, 30066 (Philmont Estates, Sprayberry): Manuela Gunnells Dalton, executor, estate of Elfriede Gunnells, to VM Pronto LLC; $245,000
1636 Hampton Oaks Bend, 30066 (Hampton Oaks, Sprayberry): Andrea Dresdner, trustee, Andrea Dresdner Living Trust, to Crystal and Yeavis Mathis; $805,000
2851 Seagrave Way, 30066 (Heritage Manor, Sprayberry): Brittany Holland to Preston and Bevan Spencer; $565,000
2451 Annandale Drive, 30066 (Village North, Sprayberry): Todd Geeting to Uddhav Das Shrestha and Nili Amatya; $525,000
June 14
3304 Greencastle Chase, 30062 (Wellington, Pope): Mario Cajati to Benjamin and Jody Hunt; $731,000
134 Vintage Club Circle Building 5, 30066 (Vintage Club Condos, Sprayberry): Martha Rais to Cynthia Landis; $430,000
2425 Renny Court, 30066 (Village North, Sprayberry): Jose Izaguirre to SHV Homes 4 LLC; $420,000
29 Jekyll Drive Unit 8, 30066 (Barrett Creek Townhomes, Sprayberry): Edith Schiwy to Clarissa Baker; $355,000
June 15
1584 Willow Drive, 30066 (Willow Creek, Kell): Britni Bruce to Jeffrey and Nancy Rhineheart; $435,000
2854 Lamer Trace, 30066 (Windsor Oaks, Lassiter): George McDonnell to Benjamin Halter and Sarita Montalvo; $690,5000
2109 Owls Nest, 30066 (Christopher Robbins, Kell): Jeffrey and Julie Glawatz to Gary Turner; $625,000
3890 Rock Mill Parkway, 30062 (Rock Mill, Lassiter): VN Master Issuer LLC to BTR Scattered Site Owner LLC; $448,410
3601 Canton Road Suite 132, 30066 (Willows at Chastain, Sprayberry): Kelly Waggoner Glenn and Lisa Waggoner Pope, co-executors, estate of Mary Waggoner, to James and Susan Wallace; $400,000
3009 Bunker Hill Road, 30062 (Bunker Hills, Pope): Sarah Ann Howard to Opendoor Property Trust; $429,400
306 Mark Avenue, 30066 (Kingswood Estates, Sprayberry): Melissa Abernathy to Rishika Laliwala; $150,000
1651 Mooregate Court, 30062 (Oaks at Sewell Farm, Walton): Wendy McCrabb to Shashank Jain and Sneha Shashindra Rao; $1.1 million
June 16
4232 North Mountain Road, 30066 (Highland Pointe, Lassiter): Oluwatoyin Adelaja to Joanna O’Leary; $735,000
3255 Devaughn Drive, 30066 (Village North Crossing, Lassiter): Katelyn Bento to Cory Gaddis and Jennifer Busca; $530,000
3150 Trickum Road, 30066 (Sprayberry): Janice Miller Edmundson and Jonathan Miller, trustees, Revocable Trust of Edna Miller to Effingham Holdings LLC; $545,000
3631 Cherbourg Way, 30062 (Dorset, Pope): Ryan and Shayna Goldfine to Zachary and Amy Thompson; $735,000
June 17
4516 Steinhauer Road, 30066 (Hunters Valley, Lassiter): John Yeager Jr. to Jacob and Kayla Cox; $455,000
4297 Rocky Glen, 30075 (Westchester, Lassiter): Kimberly Van Rysselberge to Vanessa Ann Luhr and Kelly Ethan James; $580,000
4001 Philmont Drive, 30066 (Philmont Estates, Sprayberry): Doris Simmons to Charles Edwin Gammage III; $325,000
4405 Lake Chimney Place, 30075 (Chimney Lakes, Lassiter): Michael David Picchi to Michael and Haejin Farinas; $670,000
3115 Big Shanty Trail, 30066 (Big Shanty Plantation, Sprayberry): Karen Camille Josey, executrix, estate of Robert Josey to James Purrington; $330,000
2970 Wayward Drive, 30066 (Oak Knoll, Sprayberry): Christopher Moffat, administrator, estate of Gerald Moffat to Julio and Wendy Arrecis; $270,000
2883 Laureate Court Unit 1, 30062 (The Laureate on Lassiter, Pope): Ankit Parekh to Adil Bensaid; $525,000
635 Piedmont Road, 30066 (Sprayberry): Frank Lynch III, trustee of the Frank T. Lynch Family Trust to Elmer Raul Juarez Morales; $199,900
2102 Hawthorne Point, 30062 (Chadds Ford, Pope): Barbara Pieters to James and Caroline White; $610,000
2185 Northfield Court, 30066 (North Field, Sprayberry): James and Brenda Sharp to Flor Cruz Munoz and Jose Cruz Hernandez; $392,500
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!
Catherine Mallanda, the principal at Walton High School in East Cobb, has been named the Chief Academic Officer for the Cobb County School District.
Catherine Mallanda
Mallanda’s appointment was announced early Thursday afternoon following an executive session of the Cobb Board of Education.
A Walton graduate in the Class of 1991, Mallanda has been the principal at Walton since 2018 and has been on the staff there for the last 20 years.
She will succeed Jennifer Lawson, who has been the district’s chief academic officer for the last three years.
Of Mallanda, Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said he is “excited about what she will do.”
She had been an assistant principal at Walton when she was named to succeed longtime principal Judy McNeill.
Mallanda holds degrees from Georgia Tech and the University of West Georgia and a Ph.D. from Southern Mississippi.
She was a classroom teacher at Walton and McEachern High School before becoming an administrator at Walton in 2003.
Matthew Bradford
Cobb schools human resources officer Keeli Bowen also announced Thursday that Matthew Bradford, an assistant principal at Wheeler High School, has been named the new principal at Pope High School.
He will succeed Dr. Thomas Flugum, who has retired.
Bradford had been at Wheeler since 2019 after coming from South Cobb High School.
In a message sent Friday to the Pope community, Bradford noted that his entire 20-year career in education, including a role as a teacher at Kell High School, has been in the Cobb school district. His wife also has taught in the district for 25 years and they have two high-school-age children.
“I strongly believe that education is a life-long journey that comes with great responsibility for ourselves and others,” Bradford wrote. “I believe that as educators, we must always allow students to be involved in the decision-making process. As leaders, we help and guide them to achieve their goals by providing opportunities to succeed.”
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 space that’s been open next to the J. Jill store at The Avenue East Cobb will be occupied this fall by New York Butcher Shoppe.
North American Properties announced Thursday that the South Carolina-based chain will open its third metro Atlanta location in November.
NAP also said Warby Parker, an eyeglass retailer, and Tempur-Pedic, a sleep products manufacturer, will be opening stores at The Avenue this fall.
New York Butcher Shoppe, which was founded in 1999, has 20 locations in five states, including Milton and Sandy Springs. Most of its locations are in South Carolina and North Carolina. Other locations include Augusta, Birmingham, Ala. and Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and another is opening soon in Arizona.
In addition to premium Angus steaks, New York Butcher Shoppe offers chicken, pork, veal and lamb entrees, salads, fresh seafood, parmigiana meals and roasts.
Specialty items include cheeses, pastas and “exotic sausages” as wall as “premium” charcoal, “high-quality” vegetables and “international” grocery items.
NAP said in a release that The Avenue East Cobb location will also include the first wine bar for New York Butcher Shoppe.
The news comes a few days after Stockyard Burgers and Bones announced it was closing at The Avenue after nearly eight years, due to labor and supply shortages.
Warby Parker will open in November across from Panera Bread and Temper-Pedic will open a showroom between the New York Butcher Shoppe and High Country Outfitters next spring.
NAP, which recently unveiled overhaul plans at The Avenue, said in the release that the permitting process for its “jewel box” concept—with two retail/restaurant buildings and a concierge area with valet parking, a public plaza and live music and events stage—will begin soon, with a groundbreaking event in the fall.
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!
Thursday’s high temperatures in Georgia are expected to be similar to Wednesday, and with heat values above 100. Map: NWS Atlanta
Cobb and most of Georgia have been issued heat advisories during afternoon and early evening hours this week, and that’s expected to continue for at least another day or two.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday, as temperatures in metro Atlanta reached into the low 90s.
But with humidity approaching nearly 60 percent, what’s called “heat values” surpassed 100 degrees Wednesday.
Thursday’s forecast is much the same, with highs in the low- to mid-90s and similar humidity levels. The anticipated heat values could exceed 102 degrees.
To beat the heat, drink plenty of fluids, stay out of the sun as little as possible and take extra precautions for spending time or working outdoors.
Those precautions include outdoor activities outside of heat advisory periods and wearing light, loose-fitting clothes.
Do not leave children or pets inside vehicles, and people at risk of heat stroke in particular should limit outdoor activities.
Friday’s highs are forecast to be in the mid-90s, with temperatures falling to around 90 and the high 80s over the weekend.
There’s also a 50 percent chance of rain expected Thursday and Friday, and more rain is coming this weekend.
Saturday’s forecast includes a 60 percent chance of rain and it’s 70 percent on Sunday.
The rain will taper off early next week and could return by the middle of the week. High temperatures are expected around 90 or the high 80s, but heat index forecasts are usually made on shorter notice.
For more information on local weather, click here.
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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!
On Saturday there will be a cleanup event along Sewell Mill Creek to prevent litter from reaching the Chattahoochee River.
The event takes place from 10 a.m. to noon at East Cobb Park (3322 Roswell Road), in conjunction with the Cobb Water System’s water steward program and Friends for the East Cobb Park.
Sewell Mill Creek stems from a pond on Davis Road near Holly Springs road and winds southbound through East Cobb. Below the park, the creek flows into Sope Creek along the Indian Hills golf course near Greenfield Drive.
You don’t need to bring any equipment to the cleanup on Saturday but you’re asked to wear clothes that can get wet.
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 Superior Court Chief Judge Robert Leonard has reimposed a mask mandate at the Cobb courthouse complex, due to the county being designated in the “high” category for COVID-19 transmission.
Cobb government made the announcement on Tuesday, saying that Leonard made the decision “reluctantly” and indicated “they will review trials and hearings moving forward.”
There was no indication in the message how long the mask mandate may be in place.
There was a link to CDC data tracking information by county and that shows that Cobb has a case rate of 233 per 100,000 people (100 cases per 100K is considered “high” community transmission).
The mandate applies to anyone entering Cobb courthouse buildings, including the Superior, State and Magistrate courts.
The Cobb message was posted on the county’s Facebook page and generated a barrage of negative comments, including claims that mask mandates don’t work.
Among those commenters is Salleigh Grubbs, head of the Cobb Republican Party, who wrote, “Ridiculous! Stop the madness!!”
Other commenters said cases are up because citizens aren’t wearing masks or taking the virus seriously.
“Y’all make it seem like you have to go in the courthouse. Fake outrage,” wrote another commenter.
Cobb County government lifted a mask mandate in March in other county indoor facilities.
In response to a question from East Cobb News about whether a county mandate may be reimposed, Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said “not right now.”
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A 16-home environmentally-friendly subdivision proposed on rocky terrain in a Northeast Cobb neighborhood got a quick recommendation of denial Tuesday from the Cobb Planning Commission.
By a 3-0 vote, and with no discussion, the planning board voted against a proposal by Green Community Development, LLC to switch from R-20 zoning to OSC R-20 for 7.5-acre tract off Kinridge Court.
Planning commissioner Deborah Dance, who represents the area, was absent from the meeting.
The land is on a sloping ridge at 2077 and 2079 Kinridge Court, which includes a homesite and wooded, undeveloped land. Rezoning would increase the number of approved homes from 12 to 16.
The Open Space Community Designation would preserve some property for green space but has a density limit of 1.75 units per acre.
Green’s proposal would increase the density to 2.34 units per acre, prompting the Cobb Zoning Office to recommend denial.
A total of 15 residents from nearby subdivisions turned out in opposition, saying the development is too dense and presents public safety and stormwater issues.
Allen Smith, who lives across from the property on Kinridge Court, said a fire years ago at a home at 2077 Kinridge Court presented difficulties for responding fire crews.
A rezoning request in 2003 for four homes on the property was rejected in part to that and other factors, he told planning commissioners.
Christopher Hunt, the applicant, said in sometimes combative language that he’s been up-front with residents at several community meetings to discuss what’s being called Serenesee at Kinridge.
It proposes homes of at least 3,000 square feet made of four-sided brick, stone and/or hard coat stucco.
Hunt proclaimed that the project, with rooftop gardens, “greenpaved” parking and other sustainability and LEED features, would win awards.
He said he wasn’t invited to the first meeting and explained that the four additional homes are needed because of the expenses associated with building a “sustainable” community, and with the topographical challenges of the land.
Most of the preserved space is along the northern and southern boundaries of the property.
“The density shows that it’s R-20 on three sides and then R-15 on the largest face of the property,” Hunt said, referring to surrounding rezoning categories. “It’s super-expensive to develop there.”
Opposition also came from the East Cobb Civic Association. Case manager Chris Lindstrom was asked by Planning Commission Chairman Stephen Vault about her concerns with the case, and she responded by saying that everything about it, including the site plan, was vague and confusing.
There were no renderings of the proposed homes included in the application.
The proposal also would include an underground retention area under a private road in the subdivision that Cobb Stormwater Management said would be very difficult to manage.
“At some point it’s going to have to discharge,” Cobb stormwater engineer Carl Carver said.
He said a solution would have to be engineered to simulate the drainage “in a sheet-flow fashion. It’s going to be kind of difficult, but I won’t say that it can’t be done.”
The Planning Commission recommendation will be considered by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on July 19.
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“It has been an extremely challenging time for restaurants over the last couple years. Unfortunately, we were never able to recover from the effects of the pandemic, continuous cost increases and labor shortages at this location.”
The original Stockyard restaurant on the Marietta Square, which opened in 2014, and another in Vinings remain. There was a Stockyard location in Sandy Springs that closed in 2018.
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Plans to carve out a 16-home subdivision on a challenging 7.5-acre tract off Kinridge Court in Northeast Cobb are being recommended for denial by the Cobb Zoning Office.
An application submitted by Atlanta-based Green Community Development, LLC is scheduled to be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.
Most of the parcels at 2077 and 2079 Kinridge Court are largely undeveloped on a sloping wooded area, although there is a homesite on the latter.
Green is proposing changing the existing R-20 zoning category, which would permit up to 12 homes, to R-20 OSC.
That stands for Open Space Community, a special “overlay” zoning designation meaning that some of the land would be protected as open space. Green plans to designate 35 percent as “green community space.”
The only point of access would be on Kinridge Court, between two homes in the Sandy Plains Estates subdivision.
Green is calling the proposed development Serenesee on Kinridge, with homes at least 3,000 square feet made of four-sided brick, stone and/or hard coat stucco. Parking, according to a stipulation letter, “will have 4 spaces per home on Grasspave directly across the street from homes.”
But in its analysis, Cobb zoning staff said that while the topography of the land allows an OSC designation, the density of the project (2.34 units an acre) is over the OSC limit of 1.75, as well as Sandy Plains Estates, which has a density of 1.49.
Nearby Cambridge Park is zoned R-15 but has a density of 2.21 units an acre, according to the staff analysis.
The zoning staff also cited potential runoff issues, noting the Cobb Stormwater Management comments that “due to the steepness of the topography downstream properties could be adversely affected by this project.”
A number of variances reducing front and side setbacks and reducing the width of the subdivision road present traffic and fire safety concerns, the analysis concluded:
“With the number of variances necessitated by the currently submitted plan, Staff believes that the property can be more suitably developed under its base R-20 zoning or, perhaps, with a more compliant OSC plan that may include less lots.”
Planning commission recommendations will be considered by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on July 19.
The hearing also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.
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 sixth metro Atlanta location of One Medical has opened in East Cobb at Merchant’s Walk Shopping Center (1311 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 604) in the former Verizon space near Whole Foods.
One Medical offers same- and next-day in-office visits and 24/7 virtual healthcare via its mobile and web app. Features include full lab services, mental and physical health check-ins, chronic illness management, wellness visits and COVID-19 PCR testing.
Individual memberships cost $199 per year, and One Medical is a benefit sponsored by employers who cover the membership fees.
There are more than 125 One Medical locations across 16 U.S. markets. For information visit https://onemedical.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!
The 184th Marietta Campmeeting is scheduled for July 15-24, and Peter Vien, the organization’s president, has released a partial list of featured speakers for the revival event.
The celebration kicks off on Friday, July 15, with a morning service at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. service featuring Dr. Ike Reighard, the senior pastor of Piedmont Church in East Cobb, and CEO of MUST Ministries.
On Sunday, July 17, Rev. Kristin Lee, Sr. Pastor, East Cobb UMC, the home church of the Campmeeting, will be speaking. Other speakers include Rev. Johnny Foster of East Cobb Baptist Church, Dr. John Hull Eastside Baptist Church and Rev. Darrell Rice, VP/Community Revitalization, City of Refuge Atlanta.
Schedule updates are being made on the Campmeeting Facebook page and website. The Methodist affiliated Campmeeting, which began in 1837, resumed last year after being cancelled in 2020—for the first time since the Civil War—due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Campmeeting takes place at the Marietta Campground (2300 Roswell Road) and the public is invited to attend services and other events, including an ice cream social and watermelon cutting and childrens’ services.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has extended a suspension of the gasoline sales tax a second time, through the middle of August.
Kemp made the announcement this week, ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend, as gas prices in the state and metro Atlanta are in something of a holding pattern.
He cited continuing issues with “the federal government’s gross mishandling of inflation and to renew efforts to address supply chain issues” for extending the tax suspension, which was authorized by the Georgia legislature in April.
The latest extension lasts until Aug. 13, after most schools in Georgia have resumed. Georgia motorists pay a 29-cent excise tax on every gallon of gasoline.
According to AAA-The Auto Club Group, the average gas prices in Georgia have fallen to $4.40 a gallon, down seven cents from last week.
That average is a little higher in metro Atlanta and in East Cobb.
The group estimates that it costs $66 to fill a 15-gallon tank of regular gasoline, around $22.35 more than this time last year.
The national average, according to AAA, is around $4.80 a gallon.
For more Georgia gas price data from AAA-The Auto Club Group, click here.
AAA is estimating that more than 1.5 million Georgians will be traveling more than 50 miles this weekend, more than 3 percent higher than 2021 and more than 4 percent since 2019.
Most of that travel, around 1.4 million, will be via automobile, estimated to be the highest since 2001.
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 following Cobb food scores for the week of June 27 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 signature event in Cobb County for Independence Day is the parade and Glover Park celebration in the City of Marietta on Monday, but there are plenty of other events around the county and in East Cobb to enjoy the holiday.
The Mohs family fireworks in East Cobb in 2021.
In East Cobb, the Mohs family will be setting off “professional quality” fireworks around 9 p.m. or sunset at their home at 465 Shadowlawn Road.
That’s three houses up from the intersection of Paper Mill Road, and you’re asked to park in the parking lot at Sope Creek Elementary School (3320 Paper Mill Road).
They said NO parking will be allowed along Shadowlawn or in the Mohs driveway, but there will be transport via a neighbor’s golf cart between the home and the school parking lot for those needing a lift.
In a NextDoor post(which includes a video of last year’s fireworks), Diana Mohs said attendees are welcome to bring blankets or folding chairs, and can arrive early to take a garden tour and visit the Koi fish pond.
The fireworks should last 30-45 minutes, and kids will get glowsticks. Bottled water and some snacks will be provided.
In Marietta, the Let Freedom Ring Parade begins at 10 a.m. Monday at Roswell Street Baptist Church and continues east on Roswell Street to the Square.
More than 110 entries, 2,000 participants and an estimated 30,000 spectators are expected.
IF YOU’RE GOING: The Marietta Police Department said that roads along the parade route will close 45 minutes before and during the parade, and that roads surrounding the Square will be closed all day.
WHAT’S ON TAP: The Festival runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., featuring free live concerts, arts and crafts show, food and carnival games, followed by fireworks at dark.
Here’s the full schedule:
10 a.m. Let Freedom Ring Parade
10 a.m.-9:00 p.m Festival – Arts & Crafts, Kid’s Zone, Festival Food, Free Concerts
12 p.m. Concert featuring Scott Thompson
2 p.m. Bell Ringing Ceremony
2:30 p.m. Concert featuring the Atlanta Concert Band
7 p.m. Concert featuring Josh Jones
8 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Concert featuring Departure: The Journey Tribute Band
TIGHT PARKING: Police are encouraging attendees to use a ride share because of a limited number of parking spots. The parking lot at First United Methodist Church will be closed due to a state fire parking law, and businesses on and around the Square will be open on their own holiday schedules.
TO PICK UP AND DROP OFF PASSENGERS: You’re asked to use the intersection of Lawrence and Waddell streets.
DON’TS FOR THE DECKS: Fireworks are not allowed on any of the decks around the Square; nor will open alcohol containers or consumption.
MAPS: Here’s a look at downtown Marietta parking availability.
MORE INFO: The city of Marietta has all of the July 4 particulars here.
At The Battery Atlanta, the Atlanta Braves will be playing Monday night at Truist Park against the St. Louis Cardinals, followed by fireworks. First pitch is 7:10 p.m.
If you’re going to try your hand at fireworks, keep in mind the Cobb ordinance about when you can do that, and how to do it safely.
From Cobb Government:
Cobb County Code bans the use of fireworks from 9 p.m. to 10 a.m. This is spelled out in the county’s code under the noise ordinances. Violations are a misdemeanor offense and you can view the noise ordinances by going here: Cobb County Noise Ordinance
Use of fireworks in Cobb County parks Pyrotechnics are prohibited at ALL county parks per County Ordinance § 90-63. Sec. 90-63. – Restricted or Prohibited Uses of Park Facilities 1. Pyrotechnics prohibited It shall be unlawful for any persons to possess, display, use, set off or ignite any firecracker, fireworks, smoke bombs, rockets, or other pyrotechnics.
Exemptions carved in by state law The state legislature has spelled out several exemptions to county code in O.C.G.A. § 25-10-1 et seq. This allows exemptions to county ordinances for use of fireworks on specific dates and times.
December 31 (New Year’s Eve) – Fireworks may be discharged until 1 a.m.
January 1 (New Year’s Day) – Fireworks may be discharged until midnight.
On the last Saturday and Sunday in May – Fireworks may be discharged until midnight.
July 3 – Fireworks may be discharged until midnight.
July 4 – Fireworks may be discharged until midnight.
On the first Monday in September – Fireworks may be discharged until midnight.
To view the Georgia code section regarding fireworks visit: O.C.G.A. § 25-10-2
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The Cobb Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs offers free pickup spikeball activities for adults each Wednesday at Terrell Mill Park.
Spikeball, according to Cobb Parks, “is a team sport played by two teams of two players. Opposing teams line up across from each other with the Spikeball net in the center. Once the ball is served players can move anywhere they want. The object of the game is to hit the ball into the net so that the opposing team cannot return it.”
The pickup sessions are free and take place each Wednesday from 6:30-10 p.m. at the turf field at Terrell Mill Park (480 Terrell Mill Road).
Spikeball sets will be provided but participants may bring their own.
For more information click here or contact Conor Hoyne at 770-528-8861.
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 proposed budget of $1.15 billion does not include an increase to any millage rates, including the general fund, the primary source of revenues that comes from property taxes.
But due to a 12.63 percent increase in the Cobb tax digest this year, that constitutes a tax increase according to state law, since a “roll back” in the millage rate to equal the current FY 2022 budget of $1.04 billion is not included.
Public hearings must be held by the Cobb Board of Commissioners advertising a tax increase, and they are scheduled as follows, with adoption scheduled for July 26:
Tuesday, July 12 at 9 a.m.
Tuesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, July 26 at 7 p.m.
A release from Cobb government Thursday detailed the proposed millage rates that have been proposed for the FY 2023 budget, which would take effect Oct. 1:
General Fund 8.46 mills;
Fire 2.99 mills;
Debt Service (Bond Fund) 0.0 mills;
Cumberland Special Services District II 2.45 mills;
Six Flags Special Service District 3.50 mills.
The proposed budget would include revenues totalling $865 million from those millage rates, compared to $768 million in the current budget.
Most of the rest of the revenues would come from Cobb water system revenues.
Similarly, the Cobb Board of Education announced this week it also will be holding public hearings next July since it is retaining its millage rate for fiscal year 2023 with additional revenues.
The county has not yet posted the full FY 2023 budget on its website as Finance Director Bill Volckmann mentioned on Tuesday; here’s a copy of what was presented Tuesday to commissioners that runs 41 pages.
The budget would add 147 new full-time positions throughout county government, add a merit raise, raise the minimum wage to $17 an hour and add other recruitment and intention incentives to address that Cobb officials have said are critical staffing shortages.
Most of the increase in the tax digest, a projected $50 billion, is due to rising property assessments.
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!
