Cobb Police Officer Rahim Somani, who is assigned to Precinct 4 in East Cobb, was given the Award of Valor by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce on Monday for his efforts rescuing a motorist from a burning vehicle.
Somani was the among the honorees Monday at the Chamber’s annual public safety awards luncheon at the
The Award of Valor “is one of the highest honors in public safety, recognizing extraordinary courage in the face of imminent danger. It is reserved for individuals who, without hesitation, place themselves at great personal risk to protect others and safeguard the community,” according to the chamber.
Somani was driving home after his shift on Dec. 5, 2024 when he passed a crash on Interstate 285. One vehicle was on fire, and a man trapped inside—”bleeding, disoriented, and pinned beneath the dashboard.”
Somai forced the vehicle door open, climbed inside and pulled the man free amid intense heat. The man had broken legs, and the officer carried him to safety, shortly before the care was destroyed by fire.
“Officer Somani’s bravery and decisive action undoubtedly saved the man’s life,” the Chamber said in explaining its honor. “His conduct reflects the highest ideals of law enforcement and public service. His heroic efforts that night serve as a powerful reminder of the selfless commitment officers make both on and off duty.”
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The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office proudly announces the newest addition to its K-9 Unit: Liberty, an 11-month-old bloodhound with specialized scent discrimination trailing and tracking capabilities.
Liberty is partnered with Deputy Barry Bales, a 17-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office who has served as a K-9 handler for the past three years. Before Liberty, Deputy Bales worked alongside K-9 Shax, who retired after three years of service with similar capabilities.
“Liberty will play an important role in supporting our mission to enhance public safety,” Sheriff Craig Owens said. “Her advanced tracking skills will assist in locating missing persons and suspects, as well as strengthening our community engagement.”
Still very much a puppy, Liberty enjoys stuffed animals—or anything she can tear up in playtime. Her playful personality, combined with her advanced training, makes her a valued and approachable member of the K-9 team.
The Sheriff’s Office looks forward to introducing Liberty to the community in the coming months as she begins her service alongside Deputy Bales.
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The robotic massage station at Pause Studio at Avenue East Cobb is designed to be an aid to human-powered massage.
Artificial intelligence is becoming a factor in more and more areas of society, including the health and fitness industry.
When Lisa Benson, co-owner of Pause Studio at Avenue East Cobb, recently sent out media invitations to try out an AI-generated robotic massage, it stoked my curiosity.
And also a little bit of concern. What in the world would that look like? More importantly, what would it feel like? So I went over there last week for a demo, and to learn more about what it all entails.
Benson and her husband Evan—he’s a former Pope High School football player—opened Pause late last year. She said one of the motivating reasons for her behind the business was wanting to get a better handle on her own health coming out of COVID-19, and to try an holistic approach.
Pause specializes in a variety of spa and wellness services, including float therapy, cryotherapy, IV medical therapy,cold plunge, sauna, and LED light therapy
So when she heard about the robotic massage device developed by Aescape, a New York company that uses AI to aid massage treatment, she got curious too.
(Here’s another football footnote—former New England Patriots quarterback great Tom Brady, a longevity fanatic extraordinaire, is Aescape’s chief innovation officer.)
The device has been available in some health facilities in big cities, and when Benson went to try it out, she was convinced Aescape would be a good fit for her studio.
“This is nothing more than filling in the gaps,” Benson said about the utility Aescape, which is meant to complement human massage and extend body recovery.
“It’s not meant to be a replacement.”
Benson helped me get situated in the typical head-down posture for a massage. What you see is an electronic screen in which you control what happens—settings for pressure, target areas, duration and even music.
I selected a low-pressure setting targeting my upper back—it gets a little tight—for about 15 minutes. By the time I was wondering whether I would survive this unknown experience, I had forgotten about the music.
In a few moments, the device was up against my back, putting a little too much pressure. So I lowered it, as it moved its way around, and down, my back region.
The application was smooth and consistent, and while you knew there weren’t human hands there, the effect was similar.
After 15 minutes, I felt as good as I can recall having had a massage for that duration. My session was decidedly mini in nature; the sessions available at Pause are 30 and 60 minutes.
Patients can see ahead of time, and as the massage is underway, exactly where the robot is be working—where it’s told to go.
Benson says Pause is the first suburban health studio in the Southeast to have the Aescape machine, and it blends in to an objective for her growing business to have “everything under one roof.”
“Bringing this technology here means local families, athletes, and professionals can now access world-class recovery right in their own community,” she said.
For more information about AI robotic massage at Pause, click here.
Business birthdays
This weekend will be a busy one for a number of East Cobb businesses throwing birthday bashes.
For Atlanta Swim Academy (732 Johnson Ferry Road) it’s a really big celebration—the swim school’s 40th anniversary bash from 2-4 p.m. A free public party includes food, giveaways, games and activities, face painting and even a dunk tank, but note—there won’t be any swimming classes going on.
Check the graphic below for more information, and there’s no need to sign up. Everyone’s welcome.
At Inspire East Cobb, a fitness and wellness studio at Paper Mill Village, festivities for its 4th anniversary start at 10 a.m. Saturday with a community yoga class at the plaza area of the Avenue East Cobb, followed by refreshments from nearby Round Trip Brewery at 11 a.m.
If you’re taking part in the class, you’ll need to bring your own yoga mat and some water.
There also will be raffle prizes from local businesses, and other fun and activities. Here’s a link to purchase tickets.
Also on Saturday, Soma Power Yoga (137 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 2130 ) will mark its second anniversary with free classes from 8:45 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., but you’ll need to sign up at this link.
After the classes, there will be free treats from Playa Bowls. See the graphic below for more.
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A rendering of a new worship venue at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (with the roof cut away for viewing purposes), next to the current sanctuary and chapel..
Members of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church on Sunday learned the outline of what its leadership is calling a “Forward Vision” that proposes building a new worship center on its East Cobb campus.
The plans also call for extending church-planting activities in the metro Atlanta area, as well as expanding global missionary projects.
Rev. Clay Smith, senior pastor at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church
On Sunday, members attending services were shown a nearly 12-minute video with Senior Pastor Rev. Clay Smith introducing them to the future plan, which he said would be detailed over the next month (you can watch the video in full at the bottom of this story).
Members also received a “Forward” guide book with scripture passages they will be studying during that time. The objective, Smith said, is for Johnson Ferry to act boldly over next two years as “a launching pad for what we do in the next 20 years.”
At Sunday worship services, he asked members for “100 percent participation” and to be “all-in” in helping take the next steps to plot the church’s future.
“We are inviting our entire church body to move forward together in faith and generosity to make a generational difference,” said the message about the Forward Vision plan on the Johnson Ferry website.
“This about more than a building,” Smith said in the pre-recorded video, which included segments from other church leaders and members involving in the East Cobb congregation’s campus and community activities.
“This is about strengthening unity, expanding capacity and accelerating our mission,” Smith said in the video.
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, which has 4,700 members, is located on a 37-acre campus it has occupied since 1983 on Johnson Ferry Road near Woodlawn Drive.
As East Cobb Newsreported in May, church leaders have been contemplating building a new worship venue in recent years due to membership growth and to have the sprawling congregation worship under a single roof.
A rendering of the proposed new sanctuary at Johnson Ferry Baptist, designed to enable “worship under the same roof.”
Currently Johnson Ferry holds three modern worship services in the gymnasium of its vast activities center and a traditional service in the sanctuary.
Neither are large enough to accommodate what church leaders say they need to transform the 44-year-old faith community for the long-term future, into a “multi-generational, multi-ethnic congregation.”
In May, they described a new worship center with a capacity of 2,500. The renderings shown on the video introduced on Sunday don’t indicate a size for the new structure, which would connect to the activities center.
While some nearby Baptist congregations have been contracting—Roswell Street Baptist in Marietta recently announced it would become part of First Baptist in Woodstock—Johnson Ferry has been challenged by accommodating its growth during significant generational change.
In 2018, Smith succeeded founding pastor Rev. Bryant Wright, who guided Johnson Ferry to national prominence. He was a two-time president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., but told Smith he was retiring from his Johnson Ferry post to pave the way for a forward-thinking vision for the church.
The Johnson Ferry sanctuary holds around 1,200, and the gym in the activities center has a capacity of 1,600. Church leaders say three-quarters of their attendance is in the latter space.
“They don’t always have community together,” Shane Bruce, Johnson Ferry’s executive pastor, told East Cobb News in May.
This spring, Johnson Ferry Baptist members were asked to provide feedback to a special exploratory committee, then underwent a 40-day fasting period as church leaders contemplated future plans, which they said they would announce in the fall.
The church has purchased residential land it surrounds on Johnson Ferry Road and where the new worship center is proposed.
In July, the church purchased 1.7 acres at 919 Johnson Ferry Road next to the sanctuary that had been residential property.
According to Cobb property tax records, Johnson Ferry paid $2 million for the property, which is where the new worship venue is being planned.
Smith said in a recent video on the church website that two donors have come forward with funding that would more than cover the purchase amount.
When asked for more information last week by East Cobb News, Johnson Ferry communications director TJ King said he couldn’t say more until after Sunday, but that the land purchase was a “huge answer to our prayers!”
The extended community outreach includes “planting” another Johnson Ferry congregation in metro Atlanta, but specifics haven’t been announced.
During a sermon at one one of the modern worship services Sunday (you can watch it here), Smith urged members to attend church for all five weeks as the future plans are detailed.
He preached from the Gospel of Matthew about the miracle of Jesus walking on the water, and asked members to “get out of the boat” and place their faith in helping establish a future for their church.
“When is the last time you attempted to do something great for God?” Smith said. “That’s what we’re intending to do in this campaign.
“We haven’t been asked to do something like this in about 20 years and we have in many respects a whole new generation that’s been called by God to rise to the moment and to attempt something great for God.”
A rendering of the front of the new proposed Johnson Ferry worship venue.
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The polka band trio known as Bob and the Bavarians announced that the next number would be the “Chicken Dance”—a classic of the genre—and asked for kids to come and perform along with them.
A few children moved forward, but as the song rang out, it was adults doing the dancing.
Under a big tent in the back parking lot at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on Saturday, Oktoberfest took place for the 14th time, with proceeds to benefit MUST Ministries.
The familiar rhythms of past festivals echoed again, and not just of the musical variety. Plates of sausage, sauerkraut, German potato salad and pretzels were washed down with huge mugs of beer.
Kids played in a bouncy house and tossed horsehoes, vendors displayed their wares in the church hall, and a display of classic cars greeted attendees out front.
Indoors, a concert of church music was featured via piano and Holy Trinity’s custom-designed Parkey organ, thundering at the conclusion with “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” written by Martin Luther himself.
All around the church grounds, a present-day Martin Luther greeted everyone in his monkish garb, and then settled in for a bratwurst himself.
Saturday’s festival of German music, food, culture and faith is one of many events in the East Cobb area this fall, and we’d like to share your news of upcoming events, and photos, etc., after the fact with the community.
Whether it’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year’s East Cobb News wants to be your go-to source for all the doings of all the seasons as we close out 2025, and look forward to another year of serving you in our 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.
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The Georgia 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, which takes place Saturday and Sunday in 20- and 10-mile increments, respectively, will traverse part of the East Cobb area on Sunday.
The Georgia Breast Cancer Alliance said that Sunday’s 10-mile route would cover areas in the Powers Ferry Road corridor, up to Delk Road, and then back down to its starting point at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel (see route map).
The event begins at the hotel on Saturday and will cover 20 miles in the Cumberland and Vinings areas, with the proceeds to benefit health and breast cancer programs across the state.
The organizations include walks sponsors Renasant Bank (presenting), WellStar Health System, Ankle & Foot Centers of Georgia, SCANA Energy, EZBO Foundation, Sports Radio 680 The Fan, Piedmont Realty Trust, Northside Hospital Cancer Institute, East Georgia Cancer Coalition, The Mad Italian, Grail, AK Pride Financial, Ernst Concrete, Honda Powersports and The Atlanta Braves Foundation
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October has arrived, and the fall season is already in swing on our daily calendars, if not necessarily according to the weather forecast.
But Halloween events are coming soon, and a full slate of holiday festivities after that through the new year. We’re compiling what we get in our calendar listings, but if you have an event you’d like to share that we could turn into a story, we’d be glad to do that too!
Whether it’s Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah or New Year’s East Cobb News wants to be your go-to source for all the doings of all the seasons as we close out 2025, and look forward to another year of serving you in our 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.
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The ukelele-guitar duo Rusted Melody will visit the East Cobb Park stage Sunday for another Music in the Park concert.
The first weekend in October is absolutely loaded with a variety of events in East Cobb to suit many tastes and interests, and to take advantage of some gorgeous weather.
MOVIES
Events at East Cobb Park will bookend the bevy of options, starting with Movie in the Park Friday, the Disney feature “The Wild Robot.”
MUSIC
On Sunday afternoon, the ukelele-guitar duo of Rusted Melody visits the concert stage for Music in the Park, which runs from 4-6.
Both events are free and you can bring food, blankets and lawn chairs and enjoy. East Cobb Park is located at 3322 Roswell Road.
FESTIVALS
Are already in the early fall air, some that have been around for a while, and those that are new. The 14th annual Oktoberfest returns Saturday from 10-5 at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (2922 Sandy Plains Road), celebrating German food, faith and culture.
Bratwurst, beer, a classic car show, a craft vendor fair, kids’ activities and a concert inside the sanctuary are on tap, with proceeds benefitting MUST Ministries. Admission is $7 adults, $3 children or $20 family; after 1 p.m. overflow parking is allowed at the adjacent post office.
From 1-4 Saturday The Auto Accident Attorneys Group Fall Festival will take place at its offices at 1454 Johnson Ferry Road. It’s free admission to all, and includes food, games, face-painting, music, a petting zoo and puppy adoptions.
The event is AAA Co-Founder and Partner Ali Salimi’s way of “giving back and saying thank you” to the community.
FISHING
Another Cobb PARKS Fishing Rodeo for kids is set for Saturday from 9-11 at Ebenezer Downs Park (4057 Ebenezer Road). The event will have prizes, friendly competition, and plenty of excitement for anglers of all ages. Entry fee is $5.
The meetup starts at 9 a.m. at the parking lot of the Kroger at MarketPlace Terrell Mill (1310 Powers Ferry Road), and lasts until 10:30 a.m. You can sign up to volunteer at this link.
WASTE REDUCTION
On Sunday afternoon, Chestnut Ridge Christian Church is inviting the public to a workshop, “Faithful Responses to Reducing Waste,” that will explore opportunities to address plastics at a policy level and solutions to help the congregation reduce and divert waste onsite.
The event is from 12:30-2 p.m. at the church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road).
ART
For those interested in visual art, LM Frame and Gallery (1062 Johnson Ferry Road) is featuring local artists in an Encaustic Art Show Saturday from 5-8 p.m.
MORE MUSIC
More performing arts are in store on Sunday afternoon at the Lassiter Concert Hall (2601 Shallowford Road), with the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony Fall Concert.
Musical pieces include the works of George Gershwin, Gustav Holst and Leonard Bernstein as the AYSO marks its 37th year. The concert begins at 4 p.m.; tickets are $15 for ages 12 and over and admission is free to those 12 and under.
THEATRE
The 2025 season of CenterStage North comes to an end starting this weekend with the first three of six performances of “Lend Me a Soprano,” billed as a “madcap farce” with a high level of comedic delight.
Shows are Friday-Sunday and next weekend (Oct. 9-11) at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), and you can order your tickets here. They range from $15-$27.
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, as well as calendar event listings.
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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L to R: Danielle Stone, Janet Habib (Indivisible Cobb member, volunteer with Y food program), Linda Faniel (food & nutrition services manager), Fran Cameron, Valeria Hunt. Photo provided by Indivisible Cobb.
A progressive political advocacy organization that has staged anti-Trump rallies in East Cobb said it has made a financial donation to help pay for student lunches at Brumby Elementary School.
The group Indivisible Cobb said Wednesday that its $800 donation is part of an effort to “wipe out school lunch debt” that has built up among students early in the 2025-26 school year.
“With the cutbacks on food assistance programs under the Trump administration, the number of children who can no longer access free/reduced rates lunches has grown,” Indivisible Cobb said in a release, although it didn’t specify how many of those students are at Brumby.
The group said it has begun a fundraising drive “to guarantee that all Cobb County students receive a nutritional meal regardless of their circumstances. Without exception and without shame.”
The Indivisible Cobb release didn’t indicate which food program reductions its donation was addressing. The donation partially reduces a $2,000 balance at Brumby, and was collected at Indivisible Cobb events and via via cash apps from its member base of more than 2,1o0.
The release said the group “plans to continue collecting money to help pay off school lunch debts and aims to donate to other Cobb County schools as well. This effort is in conjunction withIndivisible Cobb’songoing program of food collections and coordinated with the East Cobb YMCA Hunger Relief Program.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) program came to an end on Tuesday as part of the Trump Administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” reductions.
The release quoted Indivisible Cobb leadership team member Stacey Parlotto, who said that “Cobb County schools pride themselves on delivering above state average test scores and graduation rates.
“How can you expect students to focus with empty stomachs and bearing the shame of an empty luncheon tray?”
East Cobb News has left a message with Indivisible Cobb seeking more information about its fundraising efforts.
The group cited Georgia Department of Education figures that 42 percent of the more than 105,000 students in the Cobb County School District qualify for some form of free or reduced lunches.
Brumby is among the schools in the Cobb school district with a food pantry set up by MUST Ministries that provides food for students to take home.
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The Lassiter High School band will kick off the Cobb-Marietta Marching Band Exhibition at Frank Fillman Field on Oct. 13
After being held for many years at McEachern High School, the Cobb County School District’s marching band exhibition will be coming to East Cobb in October.
The CCSD-Marietta Marching Band Exhibition, as it’s formally known, will take on Monday, Oct. 13, with all 16 traditional Cobb high school bands, along with the bands from Marietta High School and Kennesaw State University.
The Cobb school district said in response to a request for information by East Cobb News that the venue change is “due to extensive renovations of Cantrell Stadium at McEachern. ”
Oct. 13 is a digital learning day for Cobb students.
The event at the Lassiter football stadium (2601 Shallowford Road) will take place in two sessions, starting at 3:15 p.m. with the Lassiter band, and concluding with the bands from Kell High School and KSU (see full schedule in flyer below).
Tickets are $7 per adult and $5 for students (ages 5-18) and can be purchased by clicking here; the tickets are good for both sessions.
The exhibition has been held since 1972 and in recent years, has been conducted at McEachern on consecutive Monday nights in early and mid-October.
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The Class of 2025 at Walton High School turned out an overall score in the Scholastic Aptitude Test that led the Cobb County School District, and was among the best in the state of Georgia among public high schools.
According to figures released Tuesday by the Georgia Department of Higher Education, Walton seniors combined for an overall SAT “mean score” of 1260. Lassiter’s mean score of 1206 was second in Cobb, and 12th in the state.
Wheeler came in third in Cobb at 1191, and Pope was fourth at 1185.
The Cobb school district, in a release, said its overall mean score of 1116 was the best for a large school district in metro Atlanta.
The statewide average overall mean score for 2025 is 1038.
The SAT is administered every spring for seniors, who are tested on evidence-based reading and writing and math, and the maximum score is 1,600.
“Parents I talk to don’t listen to what we say, they watch what we do,” Cobb Board of Education chairman David Chastain said in a statement issued by the district.
“The highest SAT scores in the metro, a record graduation rate, graduates walking across stages straight into high-earning jobs, and scholarships. That’s what we do, year in and year out,”
For the most part, the results from East Cobb high schools and the Cobb school district are only slightly different from the Class of 2025.
Wheeler’s score in 2025 is a 24-percent increase from 2024. In 2023, Wheeler’s score was 1255, tied for first in Cobb with Walton.
Lassiter’s 1206 score also represents a 24-point improvement from last year.
Cobb’s mean of 1116 was followed by 1083 in Marietta and 1076 in Fulton County.
Walton’s 1260 overall score mean was the highest for a traditional high school in Georgia. Specialty academies, charter and magnet schools are more selective in their admissions criteria.
For example, the Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science and Technology, which typically outpaces all other Georgia public schools in test results, has an enrollment of around 1,200 students. Those students are chosen from a countywide lottery held by Gwinnett County Public Schools.
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Cobb County Government invites residents, students, businesses, and community organizations to attend Cobb Cybersecurity Day 2025 on Friday, Oct. 3, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cobb County Civic Center, 548 South Marietta Parkway SE, Marietta.
Held in recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, this free event will provide critical insights and hands-on learning opportunities to help individuals recognize and defend against today’s growing cyber threats.
Event highlights:
Expert presentations from local universities and industry leaders
Insights from Cobb County’s Technology-Based Crimes Unit
Practical guidance on protecting personal data and spotting cyber scams
Information on how Cobb County safeguards community data
Career resources for students exploring cybersecurity fields
Complimentary catered lunch
Door prizes including a YETI cooler, Surface Laptop, and more*
Since 2004, National Cybersecurity Awareness Month has united public and private partners to raise awareness about cybersecurity and data privacy. This year, Cobb County is bringing that mission directly to the community with a day dedicated to education, prevention, and empowerment.
Why attend? As reliance on digital systems grows, informed individuals are the first line of defense. Cobb Cybersecurity Day is designed to give attendees the knowledge to protect themselves, their families, and their workplaces.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged but not required*. Register at:cobbcounty.gov/CyberDay
*Registration and attendance are required to be eligible for door prizes.
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If you’re looking to meet and mingle with local business owners, the first week in October is for you.
The East Cobb Business Association and the Northeast Cobb Business Association will be holding business expos three days apart.
For business owners, it’s exposure to the public. For the public, it’s a way to learn about who’s behind the scenes at their favorite stores and service providers.
The ECBA Expo is Tuesday, Oct. 7 from 4:30-7 p.m. at Wellstar East Cobb Health Park (3747 Roswell Road) and is in a more streamlined format. Organizers are calling it a “mini” format, with about 20 or so businesses and vendors on hand.
All of those tables have been sold out, but non-exhibitors can still sign up online for $5 at this link. Tickets at the door are $10 (both prices are for ECBA members and non-members).
Two days later, on Thursday, Oct. 7, the Northeast Cobb Business Association Expo will be held from 5-7:30 p.m. at Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road).
The format is similar, but admission for the public is free. Among the exhibitors are WorkSource Cobb, the Cobb County government Economic Development office and the Small Business Development Center at KSU.
On Friday, Oct. 10, the Professional Women of East Cobb will hold their monthly luncheon at J. Christopher’s at Woodlawn Square (1205 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 114) from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $25 for ECBA members and $30 for non-members and registration must be completed online in advance.
The main ECBA luncheon is Oct. 21 from 11:30-1, also at the Wellstar East Cobb Health Park. The guest speaker is Liz Bachman of Wildflower Social Media, who specializes in helping small businesses with their marketing strategies.
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Cobb firefighters quickly put out an electrical fire at the Owl Repairs store on Roswell Road Sunday morning, but businesses in a retail center are closed.
The Bookmiser bookstore in East Cobb is one of several businesses in a small retail center that is closed temporarily after a fire broke out there on Sunday
Bookmiser owner Annell Gerson sent out a message Monday morning that her business would be closed “until further notice” to in-store customers due to smoke damage.
Her space is at the Village East strip center at 3822 Roswell Road, at the intersection of Robinson Road East.
She said the fire broke out at the Owl computer repair store next door, and “generated a tremendous amount of smoke which permeated every small business in the center causing extensive smoke and soot damage.”
Other businesses there include the 348 Studio fitness center, a Chopstix Chinese restaurant, an upholstery store, a wax studio and nail salon.
Lt. Stephen Bennett of Cobb Fire and Emergency Services told East Cobb News that fire started in the workshop for the telephone repair business at Owl Repairs and the cause is still under investigation.
Gerson said the fire broke out Sunday morning, when all the businesses were closed.
“The fire was confined to the room of origin and smoke damage was confined to the phone repair business,” Bennett said. “There was a strong odor-of-smoke in the suites connected to the fire suite.”
On its Facebook page, Owl Repairs showed a video with firefighters on the scene (screengrab above), and said the fire was electrical in nature. “Then the variety of electronics caused the store to go up in endless flames.”
A narrator on the video added that “this place is burned down. . . . We could use all the community support as we attempt to recover.”
Bookmiser sustained extensive smoke and soot damage due to the fire that broke out at Owl Repairs.
Owl Repairs urged its customers to to shop at its other location on Bells Ferry Road.
“Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you, we are also devastated,” the message said.
Gerson said her Bookmiser inventory includes more than 35,000 books, and that “although we have begun steps to improve air quality and clean up, much more work remains to be done.”
She encouraged her customers to shop online, via its Bookshop.org and Libro.fm partners. Bookmiser book club events that are held at Bookmiser will temporarily be meeting at Stitches, a quilting store behind Village East.
“In most cases, book clubs will meet there or at another location which will be communicated to book club members by Annell,” the Bookmiser message stated.
Gerson opened Bookmiser in 1998 in space on Sandy Plains Road near Woodstock Road, then opened at second location in East Cobb at the present location on Roswell Road. The original location closed in 2018.
All of the businesses at Village East were closed Monday, and some were doing smoke mitigation work.
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Pope’s Class of 2025 graduated to the tune of 98.2 percent in May.
Ten schools in the 17-high school Cobb County School District had graduation rates of 90 percent or higher, and four of them are in East Cobb.
The Cobb school district announced Class of 2025 graduation numbers, and Pope High School leads the pack.
Pope’s graduation rate of 98.2 percent led a Cobb school district that reported an overall rate of 89.2 percent, an all-time high. Harrison was second at 97.8 percent.
Lassiter was third at 97.3 percent and Walton was fourth at 97.2 percent.
Lassiter had been Cobb’s graduation rate leader for the last three years.
“Our record-high graduation rate of 89.2% is something the whole community can celebrate. It shows what’s possible when students work hard, teachers pour their hearts out, and families and staff stand together to support them,” Cobb Board of Education chairman David Chastain said in a district release.
“From big gains at South Cobb to steady excellence at schools like Pope, Walton, Harrison, and Lassiter—this is what happens when we stand as One Team and all invest in student success.”
The district didn’t include school-by-school results, but data released by the Georgia Department of Education show that Kell High School’s graduation rate for 2025 was 93.8 percent, at Sprayberry is was 89.4 percent and at Wheeler it was 89.4 percent.
The figures are compiled as part of what the state calls the “4-Year Cohort Graduation Rate.”
That is defined as follows:
“The number of students who graduate in four years with a regular high school diploma, divided by the number of students who form the adjusted cohort for the graduation class.”
The federal rate is calculated in the ninth grade, and includes even students who are enrolled only for a day.
Cobb also produces what it calls “a more complete” graduation rate, comparing the actual class sizes as they go through the 10th, 11th and 12th grades.
For 2025, Cobb said that 99.2 percent of seniors graduate who spent all four years in the district.
Cobb’s overall rate jumped by 1.3 percent in 2024, and the 89.2 percent figure is second among major school districts in metro Atlanta, trailing only Fulton (91.9 percent).
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!
Get ready for a spooky-but-not-too-spooky good time! The Friends for the East Cobb Park and East Side Baseball are excited to announce our first annual “Halloween Hike” event at East Cobb and Fullers Parks, and we’re looking for community members to host one of our themed stations.
This free event for local families will be held on Sunday, October 26, 2025, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. We expect about 100 kids and their parents to walk a festive trail around the parks, stopping at each station for a treat and a friendly greeting.
We are looking for 15-20 station hosts to come in costume, decorate a station with a not-too-scary theme, and provide candy or trinkets for the children. This is a great way to showcase your organization, business, or just be a fun part of the community. The best part? There is no cost to be a sponsor! Please also plan to provide a table, chairs, or whatever you’ll want at your station.
We have a list of fun themes to get you started, like a “Wizarding School” or a “Pirate Cove,” but we’re happy to consider other ideas for appropriateness.
Ready to sign up? Just head to our Sign-up Genius page to register and select your station:
Thank you for helping us make this a fantastic event for our community!
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Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is hosting a workshop called “Faithful Responses to Reducing Waste” presented by Georgia Interfaith Power & Light on Sunday, October 5, 2025, starting at 12:30 p.m.
The hour and a half workshop will be taught by Hannah Schultz from Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL). The goal is to understand the environmental and justice concerns related to the use of single-use plastics and the challenges associated with recycling in Georgia. This workshop will explore opportunities to address plastics at a policy level and solutions to help the congregation reduce and divert waste onsite. The workshop is open to the community.
Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, a Green Chalice Congregation with the Disciples of Christ, is a recipient of a ReWilding Program grant from GIPL. The ReWilding Program with GIPL is a program to focus on the ecological regeneration of congregational lands, restoring natural processes, and fostering more resilient ecosystems and communities. This Workshop is presented as part of that program.
The “Faithful Responses to Reducing Waste” workshop will take place in the sanctuary of Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, beginning at 12:30pm and ending around 2pm on Sunday, October 5, 2025. The church is located at 2663 Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta, at the corner of Post Oak Tritt and Johnson Ferry. Enter the parking lot off of Post Oak Tritt.
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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!
All of those tables have been sold out, but non-exhibitors can still sign up online for $5 
