Play Me Again Pianos to unveil ‘Vincent’ community piano at Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center

The third community piano provided by the Play Me Again Pianos non-profit in an East Cobb location will be unveiled Jan. 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).

The debut for “Vincent” takes place at 6 p.m. and is open to the public. Guests can play the piano afterward.

The East Cobb-based Play Me Again Pianos is providing 88 repurposed and repainted pianos throughout the metro Atlanta area. Vincent, named after the painter Vincent van Gogh, is the 20th completed project.

Previously, community pianos were installed at East Cobb Park and the Egg Harbor Cafe restaurant on Lower Roswell Road.

“Street pianos and public pianos inspire people to connect with each other in ways that were once common, but seem increasingly rare. By adding our pianos to the landscape throughout the metropolitan area, we hope to nurture that connection into an evolution of Atlanta’s culture, community and the arts,” said Jason Brett, co-founder of Play Me Again Pianos.

Vincent was designed and painted by Suzzanne Anicette, a local artist and the arts coordinator at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.

“The idea and design for Vincent grew out of a desire to have an easily recognizable reproduction of a Master work, since we’re placing him inside the Gallery,” Anicette said. “I wanted to depict the feeling of van Gogh’s Starry Night using slightly more vibrant colors to entice players and help them feel at ease enough to enjoy playing.

“Painting Vincent was truly a labor of love. I can see him symbolically unifying the Visual and Performing Arts that are housed at Sewell Mill and being enjoyed for years to come. I’m grateful to Play Me Again Pianos for affording artists the opportunity to complete these public art pieces. I cannot wait to see the subsequent works take shape.”

Anicette is a former arts teacher in Rochester, N.Y. and Atlanta public schools and community arts centers and museums. She joined the cultural arts division of Cobb County PARKS in January.

Vincent will be located in the Carol and Jim Ney Art Gallery near the entrance to the library.

On Thursday, Jan. 10, a “Play In” will include staff from the Cultural Affairs Division of Cobb County PARKS and the Cobb County Library system playing Vincent in an all-day celebration from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.

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Traffic Update: Columns Drive closed temporarily due to flooding

Columns Drive closed, Cobb flood warning

Cobb County government issued a notice around 12:30 p.m. today that Columns Drive, which meets Johnson Ferry Road at the Chattahoochee River, has been closed due to flooding.

The specific area of Columns Drive that is closed is between Willow Knoll Drive and Atlanta Country Club Drive.

Cobb DOT also closed Woodland Brook in Vinings, where a woman in a van had to be rescued after being stranded in high water.

Cobb officials also said areas of the Chattahoochee near Roswell, including East Cobb boundaries, also are vulnerable to flooding. This morning motorists were advised not to travel along Willeo Road along the Chattahoochee, close to where it meets Timber Ridge Road in East Cobb.

A flood warning was issued for several stretches along the Chattahoochee in Cobb, including that stretch near Roswell.

After being in a flash flood watch area, Cobb is now under a flood warning, following storms Thursday night and Friday morning, that brought between 2-4 inches of rain to the area.

The warning is due to expire around 3:15 today, but the National Weather Service said flooding issues from the rains will linger through the rest of today. Here’s more from the NWS warning, which was issued around 1:30 p.m., and specifically about the flooding near Vinings:

  • At 12PM Friday the stage was 18.5 feet and and rising.
  • Flood stage is 14.0 feet.
  • Significant flooding occurs in the woodlands and affects large portions of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area along the river upstream and downstream from the gage on Cobb Parkway. The flood waters will be around 3 feet deep over portions of the access road to the recreation area. Portions of the parking lot will begin to flood.
  • This crest compares to a previous crest of 17.9 feet on Oct 12 2009.

A flash flood watch continues for Cobb, metro Atlanta and much of north Georgia until 7 a.m. Saturday.

More thunderstorms are expected later this weekend and into New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Democrats make gains on Republican turf

East Cobb Election Update, Charisse Davis, East Cobb elections 2018
Charisse Davis upset Scott Sweeney to win a seat on the Cobb Board of Education representing the Walton and Wheeler areas. (ECN file)

The all-Republican slate of public office holders in East Cobb is no more. Three Democratic candidates defeated Republican incumbents in the November elections, as Cobb’s changing political demographics reached even the strongest GOP part of the county.

All three races were extremely close in what’s being called part of a Democratic “Blue Wave” that galvanized party voters, especially in metro Atlanta.

For the first time in a long time, Democratic candidates contested every office on this year’s ballot for East Cobb voters. All of the Democrats were females, and most were running for office for the first time.

After winning last year’s bruising 6th Congressional District special election over Jon Ossoff, Republican incumbent Karen Handel was unseated by Marietta Democrat Lucy McBath, a high-profile gun-control candidate.

Handel won most of the East Cobb precincts, but McBath prevailed in north DeKalb precincts and won north Fulton by a nose.

Georgia 6th Congressional District candidate Lucy McBath
U.S. Rep.-Elect Lucy McBath

After indicating she would ask for a recount, Handel conceded the following day after falling fewer than 3,000 votes short.

McBath will be the first Democrat to hold that seat since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was first elected to Congress in 1978. She also will serve in the majority, as Democrats nationwide picked up enough seats to take control of the House.

A recount took place for the State House District 37 seat held by Republican Sam Teasley. But Democrat Mary Frances Williams was declared the winner for the seat that includes some of East Cobb.

The Cobb legislative delegation also will be majority Democratic as several other seats in the county switched from GOP control.

In Cobb Board of Education elections, Democrat Charisse Davis, who lives in the Campbell High School area, upset Republican incumbent Scott Sweeney to win Post 6, which mostly includes the Walton and Wheeler attendance zones.

State Rep. Sharon Cooper
State Rep. Sharon Cooper

Republicans had held a 6-1 majority on the school board, but their edge will be 4-3 in January. David Chastain, a Republican who represents Kell and Sprayberry, won election to a second term.

Even some Republican incumbents who won had close calls in Cobb. Commissioner JoAnn Birrell was re-elected for a third term in District 3, which includes most of Northeast Cobb. But liberal Democrat Caroline Holko ran strong, as Birrell got only 52 percent of the vote.

Veteran State Rep. Sharon Cooper won by a similar margin to retain State House seat 43 in East Cobb. The chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, Cooper, first elected in 1996, was challenged by first-time candidate Lucia Wakeman.

 

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Flash flood watch in effect for Cobb through Saturday morning

Cobb flash flood watch

The end of 2018 is going to be soggy in Cobb, metro Atlanta and north Georgia, as thunderstorms are underway and will continue through most of the weekend.

A flash flood watch has been issued by the National Weather Service in Atlanta from 7 p.m. Thursday through 7 a.m. Saturday. Cobb could get two inches of rain and possibly more in that time, with heavier rains forecast for other parts of north Georgia.

A wind advisory also is in effect for Cobb and north Georgia through 7 a.m. Friday, with wind gusts expected to average between 10-20 mph, and as high as 40 mph in some areas.

A flash flood watch means that conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding. The NWS forecast calls for thunderstorms through much of Friday, with the highest chance of flooding on Friday evening.

The chance of rain in Cobb Friday is 100 percent, with highs expected to be in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 40s.

Saturday will be mostly sunny with a slight chance of showers. The forecast high is in the high 50s, and an 80 percent chance of rain is expected Saturday night, with lows forecast to be in the mid 40s.

More strong rains are projected for Sunday, an 80 percent chance, with highs reaching into the mid 50s and lows in the high 40s.

New Year’s Eve on Monday, New Year’s Day on Tuesday and Wednesday are expected to have around a 50 percent chance of rain each day, and will be mostly cloudy.

On Wednesday it will start to get colder, with highs in the high 40s. The sun is expected to return on Thursday, with highs in the low 40s.

Lows both Wednesday and Thursday are forecast to be in the 30s.

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: School walkouts lead to punitive action

East Cobb school walkouts
Parents and family members of Walton students walking out came to lend support outside the locked school gates. (ECN)

Here’s something that took a lot of people by surprise in East Cobb in 2018: Student walkouts in favor of gun-control, a month after the high school shootings in Parkland, Fla.

Students from Walton, Pope, Lassiter and Wheeler were vocal about their plans to leave their classes at a designated time on March 14 as part of a national campaign to protest gun violence.

The Cobb County School District announced that it did not endorse the walkout, and said students who violated school disruption policies would be subject to disciplinary action.

The day after the Florida shootings, principal Chris Ragsdale announced the district would step up code-red drills to improve preparedness.

At Walton, walkout leaders said they were undeterred, claiming they had 2,300 students signed up to take part in the protest.

In an interview with East Cobb News, Walton principal Judy McNeill said she was disappointed with the students who were walking out, and that other students were organizing an alternative to honor the Florida victims before the start of the school day.

Cobb schools closed high school campuses to visitors on March 14, and even locked the gates at Walton, where parents, friends and family members brought signs to signal their support for the walkout students.

At Pope High School, police blocked the only entrance. Cobb schools claimed only 250 Walton students walked out.

As the walkout period approached, a Walton parent read the names of the 17 victims in Parkland.

The following day, some of the East Cobb walkout leaders blistered Cobb school board members during a public comment period for attempting “to silence us” about their concerns over student safety.

Most of the board members said nothing. The students who walked out generally received a day of in-school suspension.

Other top East Cobb schools stories for 2018 include the opening of new school facilities at East Cobb Middle School and Brumby Elementary School, a Dodgen math teacher being named the Cobb teacher of the year, Sprayberry High School marking its 65th anniversary and school officials conducting a school safety town hall meeting at Lassiter High School.

Principal Amanda Richie (in black dress) said the Brumby ES family will make the new campus “not just a school house but a school home.”

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Johnson Ferry Road accidents claim two teenagers; 2014 murder conviction

Johnson Ferry Road accidents
An 18-year-old motorcyclist died in March after crashing into a landscaping truck on Johnson Ferry Road. (ECN file).

Two 18-year-olds from East Cobb were tragically killed in Johnson Ferry Road accidents in 2018.

Alexander Seidnitzer, who worked at Zeal Kitchen & Bar and was planning to attend culinary school, was heading southbound on Johnson Ferry near Bishop Lake Road on the morning of March 26 when he slammed into a landscaping truck that was pulling out of a subdivision.

After being rushed to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, Seidnitzer was pronounced dead. No charges were filed in the accident.

Friends, family and work colleagues held a celebration of life event in his memory at Zeal.

On the July 4 weekend, a recent graduate of Pope High School was traveling in a vehicle further up on Johnson Ferry when she rolled down a window and began yelling and screaming before falling out and hitting the road.

Alyssa Prindle, who was planning to attend Georgia Southern University, never left intensive care at Kennestone and died of her injuries on July 25.

The driver of the SUV, 17-year-old Abigail Cook, also of East Cobb, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI and other charges. In November, she was indicted by a Cobb grand jury.

Other major public safety stories for 2018 in East Cobb include the August conviction of a man for the murder of Jerry Moore, who was found stabbed to death in his home off Holly Springs Road in January 2014.

Johnathan Allen Wheeler worked at a Woodstock bakery that Moore financed and that was run by Ross Byrne, who was Moore’s roommate. Byrne was charged with homicide two weeks after Wheeler was sentenced to two consecutive life terms.

Former Pope volunteer wrestling coach Ron Gorman received long sentences for sexually abusing young athletes, both in East Cobb and in Pennsylvania, where he coached previously.

A former Kell High School teacher of the year is facing charges of sexually assaulting a student from 2016 and 2018.

Robert New, a former officer at Cobb Police Precinct 4 in East Cobb, was arrested for aggravated assault of a woman, solicitation of a minor girl, possession of computer pornography and other charges. He resigned shortly after that in June.

Crime

Traffic

Courts and trials

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2018: Comings and goings in restaurants, businesses and development

top East Cobb stories for 2018, Sprayberry Crossing
Citizens living near the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center demanded county officials do something about the property that has been blighted for years. (ECN file)

We’re starting off our compilation of top East Cobb stories for 2018 with a rundown of what opened and closed in the community this year, especially restaurants, other notable businesses and zoning and development matters.

These are based on reader trends as well as newsworthiness. As you can see, this was quite the year in East Cobb for these subjects, especially restaurants and some major zoning cases that could establish changing development trends.

Two major redevelopment projects in the Powers Ferry Road corridor were approved this year, and they’re slated to transform an area that’s being revived due in part to its proximity to SunTrust Park and The Battery Atlanta.

Those projects weren’t without their critics, concerned about high density and traffic that’s a growing issue elsewhere in East Cobb and beyond.

Citizens fed up with years of inaction over the run-down Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center organized a community meeting that drew many county officials, but nothing has happened despite a court order.

Zoning and development

Ming's Asian Kitchen Opens, East Cobb restaurants
Ming’s Asian Kitchen, at Lower Roswell and Woodlawn, was among the newcomers to the East Cobb dining scene in 2018. (ECN file)

Restaurant news

Burger's Market closing
Vine-ripe tomatoes are among the popular produce items that have drawn customers to Burger’s Market since the 1970s. (ECN file)

Other business news

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Sewell Mill Library holiday break events include ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’

If you’re looking for things for your kids to do while they’re out on holiday break, the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) has a few events in store.

Its weekly Classic Movie Thursday screening will be “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” and it lasts from 2-4 p.m. Sewell Mill Library holiday week events

Also on Thursday, from 2:30-4:30 p.m., there’s a Freeform Lego Play session that’s for ages 5-12 (plus a required adult caretaker). Participants can build items from Lego Challenge Cards or make something of their own design.

On Saturday is another movie screening, “The House With a Clock in Its Walls, from 6-8 p.m. Rated PG, it’s the story of a 10-year-old boy who lives with an oddball uncle who lives in a house with a mysterious tick-tock noise.

When the boy accidentally awakens the dead, a sleepy town comes to life, revealing a world of witches, warlocks and deadly curses.

On the very last day of the holiday break, Friday, Jan. 4, is an all-day Sherlock Holmes Film Festival, in honor of his birthday. It begins at 1:30 p.m. and features four movies, all rated G, PG or PG-13. Here’s a description of the films being shown. The last film ends around 9 p.m.

All the events are free, and there’s no registration required. You’re also free to bring your own food and drink for the movies in the Black Box Theater.

For information call 770-509-2711.

Other regular activities and events at library branches in East Cobb will resume in January.

The branches are open at their regular schedules for the rest of this week.

 

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East Cobb Regions Bank expanding to Johnson Ferry, Shallowford roads

East Cobb Regions Bank, Shallowford Road

A new location of Regions Bank has opened in East Cobb, and another is on the way.

A branch at 680 Johnson Ferry Road, near Parkaire Landing, opened its doors last week. It’s in the former space of the short-lived Pollo Tropical restaurant.

Also last week, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to approve a revised site plan (above) for another Regions branch at 3028 Shallowford Road. That’s at the intersection of Sandy Plains Road next to the O’Charley’s Restaurant, were a Rite Aid drug store used to be.

Regions is planning to knock down that building and replace it with a standalone building similar to what’s on Johnson Ferry Road (agenda item information here).

When that branch opens, it will be three in East Cobb for Regions, which also has a bank at 2486 Roswell Road.

Based in Birmingham, Regions operates operates more than 1,500 banks in 15 states in the South and Midwest.

 

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Friends of the East Cobb Senior Center to hold White Elephant auction

East Cobb Senior Center, Friends of the East Cobb Senior Center

Thanks to Diana Prior for passing this along:

Friends of the East Cobb Senior Center will be hosting a WHITE ELEPHANT AUCTION fundraiser on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at the East Cobb Senior Center.

Donations of auction items can be dropped off at the center reception desk until Wednesday, January 9th. PLEASE NO CLOTHES or SHOES.  Gently used household items, furniture, collectibles & accessories are welcome.

Admission is $5 cash only/person and includes an all beef hot dog & beverage

Doors open at: 10:30
Preview: 11-12 noon
Auction begins at noon – no reserves, no buyers premium, cash sales only.

Items being auctioned include, but not limited to: pictures, posters, wicker, rocker, golf clubs, new small appliances, cookie jars,  professional chair scale, exercise equipment, unconstructed dollhouse & furniture, tennis racquets, cricket set, coat tree, more…

Information:
East Cobb Senior Center: 770-509-4900

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Radio star opens Delta Community youth savings account in East Cobb

Press release:

Radio personality Maria More spent Christmas Eve morning in East Cobb, where she opened a Youth Savings Account at Delta Community Credit Union.

A fixture in Atlanta radio for the past decade, More currently serves as a host on Atlanta radio station Majic 107.5/97.5. She opened the account this morning for her 7-year old daughter Ligayah, during Delta Community’s December promotion in which the Credit Union will match deposits up to $100 when you open a new Youth Savings Account for children 12 and younger.

The attached photo shows Delta Community Branch Manager Eddie Johnson, Maria More and Ligaya, and Delta Community Member Service Agent Afshin Safaeian.

 

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Northwest Corridor Express Lanes holiday schedule announced

If you’re planning on using the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes over the next week or so, here is the holiday schedule Georgia DOT has put together:

  • Dec. 24-25: Operate northbound
  • Dec. 25, 11 p.m.: Reverse to southbound
  • Dec. 26-28: Normal operations
  • Dec. 28, 11 p.m.: Reverse to southbound
  • Operate southbound until Dec. 31, 11:30 a.m.
  • Dec. 28-31: Operate southbound at 11:30 a.m.
  • Dec. 31: Normal operations
  • Jan. 1: Operate northbound
  • Jan. 1, 11 p.m.: reverse to southbound
  • Jan. 2: Return to normal schedule

There also will be no lane closures for ongoing Georgia DOT construction projects during much of the holiday period.

There’s a no lane closure period going on now that began on Saturday, and that will continue through Wednesday.

Some construction work and lane closures will resume from Thursday through Saturday.

No closures will also be in effect starting at 6 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 31, and continuing through 5 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 2.

For up-to-date information about travel conditions on Georgia’s interstates and state routes, call 511 or visit www.511ga.org before heading out on the roads.

 

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EDITOR’S NOTE: Finding a sense of peace during the holidays

On Christmas Eve a year ago, I stepped inside church doors for the first time in a very long while and found a seat in a pew.

This church was packed for a candlelight service that resonated with the faces, and the voices, of children. Many of them were invited to come to the front for a special word of scripture.

A young family sat beside me, including a baby held by her father the whole time. Occasionally, she cooed and smiled, as the song surrounding her, surrounding all of us, wafted through the sanctuary.

The music soared, and so did we.

“Peace be with you.” We grasped the hands of those around us and greeted one another with those words.

These are the usual practices and scenarios at church services every Sunday here in East Cobb, and elsewhere.

But as someone who drifted away from faith as a teenager, I felt immediately reconnected with a spirituality that has long eluded me.

Since Christmas Eve last year, I haven’t been back to church, either, mainly because I’m still not sure what I believe. All I know is that the peacefulness of being in that sanctuary on that evening hasn’t left me.

Neither has the sense that it’s moments like those that really reflect the meaning of the season.

The holidays have flown by, and as usual, I have found them overwhelming. The secular activities of shopping and gift-giving, Santa visits and tree lightings are fine and festive, as are office and school parties.

So is helping those less fortunate with the provision of food, clothing, home supplies and gifts for children as volunteers, and with charities.

Yet there’s something that I’ve found missing, something that I’ve only found in a sanctuary, or in connecting with the Christian traditions of the season. Perhaps it’s just another mid-life occasion in which I’m reflecting on the forces that shaped me.

Earlier this week, I heard Handel’s “Messiah,” the whole magisterial thing, performed by New York Philharmonic on a radio program. If that doesn’t uplift you, nothing will.

It made me think about how such music has started bringing back a little closer to God. So have some of the liturgies, many of the Psalms and an appreciation for the richness and variety of what’s available in this East Cobb community we call home.

Many of our local churches have opened their doors to the public for concerts, nativity scenes and other events this season. They’ll do the same on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

If you’re like me and unsure about what you believe, or you’re if simply looking to find a sense of peace, consider taking a step inside.

And may peace be with all of you this holiday season!

 

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Cobb commissioner Birrell sworn in for third term; named vice-chair

Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell has been sworn in for her third term in office.

Birrell, a Republican who represents District 3, took the oath on Wednesday at the Northeast Cobb Business Association luncheon at Piedmont Church.Cobb commissioner Birrell sworn in

She narrowly defeated Democrat Caroline Holko in the November elections, receiving a little more than 51 percent of the vote. Birrell, who was first elected in 2010, thanked her constituents and supporters in her weekly newsletter on Friday:

“Together, we have brought new businesses to the district, connected neighbors through various homeowner associations, worked to ensure we are fiscally responsible stewards of your tax dollars, added parks/green space, and supported our public safety team who is second to none. There are not enough words to express my gratitude to you for being so engaged, passionate, and supportive of our community.”

Birrell also has been appointed to serve as vice chair of the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 2019. That appointment was made by chairman Mike Boyce.

The only other commission election this year was in District 1 in North Cobb, where incumbent Bob Weatherford was defeated by Keli Gambrill. She also was sworn in this week.

The new terms for Birrell and Gambrill officially begin in January.

 

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Wheeler Athletic Hall of Fame inductees include Olympic track gold medalist, 1st state basketball champs

The latest class of the Wheeler Athletic Hall of Fame includes Aries Merritt, who won the Olympic gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the London Olympics in 2012.

He will be honored with three other individuals and a team at the induction ceremony on Jan. 19. Wheeler High School Fall 2017 Senior Projects, Wheeler athletic hall of fame

Merritt graduated from Wheeler in 2003 and starred at the University of Tennessee before focusing on international competition. His winning Olympic time of 12.80 seconds is the current world-record.

Also selected to the Hall of Fame is Bob Tway, Class of 1976, a former professional golfer who won the 1986 PGA championship and 12 other tournaments.

Antwuan Dixon, Class of 1998, played college basketball at Florida State.

Lyn Murray was a standout soccer goalkeeper at Wheeler, graduating in 2001, and earning all-Cobb and team MVP honors.

The Wheeler boys basketball team that won the state championship in 1994 also will be inducted. It’s the 25th anniversary for the first of six Georgia titles the Wildcats won under former coach Doug Lipscomb, who retired last year.

The star player on that team was Shareef Abdur-Rahim, a former NBA all-star and league executive who recently was named president of the G League, a developmental league for professional basketball players.

The induction ceremony costs $10 a person, and the doors will open at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 19, which is a Saturday.

RSVP by contacting Lotty Bresch at 770-578-3266, ext. 073, or by e-mailing Lotty.Bresch@cobbk12.org.

The Wheeler Athletic Hall of Fame was created in 2008. Here is a list of the other inductees.

 

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Cobb government closed Monday and Tuesday for Christmas holidays

Just a reminder that Cobb government services will be closed on Monday and Tuesday due to the Christmas holidays.

That also includes public libraries, which will reopen at their regular hours on Wednesday, Dec. 26.

East Cobb schools earn Governor’s Office of Student Achievement awards

Lassiter High School graduation rate, East Cobb schools

Several East Cobb schools are among the 159 schools across the state recognized earlier this month by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

The awards are given to schools that meet a number of measures for student academic progress, called Statewide Accountability System Awards, and include the categories of “Greatest Gains” and “Highest Performing.”

Greatest Gains schools must earn a three-year average in the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) Content Mastery Score that ranks in at least the 93rd percentile.

High Performing schools exhibit high academic performance by earning a three-year average CCRPI Content Mastery Score in at least the 93rd percentile.

In other words, these schools are in the top three percent in the state in academic growth in those respective categories.

Lassiter High School earned a Platinum Award for Greatest Gains, while those schools getting the Gold Award are Walton High School, Wheeler High School, Dodgen Middle School and Garrison Mill Elementary School.

Sprayberry High School and Addison Elementary School earned a Silver Award, and the Bronze Award went to Dickerson Middle School, Hightower Trail Middle School and Murdock Elementary School.

Related stories

Highest Performing schools from East Cobb include Lassiter and Walton (Platinum), Mt. Bethel Elementary School (Gold) and Simpson Middle School (Bronze).

Recognized schools will receive and award certificate and a banner to hang in their schools.

The awards are developed by the GOSA and approved by the Georgia Department of Education. For more information, including further explanation about how the awards are calculated, click here.

Wheeler HS GOSA Award

 

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East Cobb cityhood steering committee member resigns, citing lack of transparency

A member of an informal citizens steering committee examining a possible East Cobb cityhood initiative has resigned, saying he and other committee members weren’t being told who funded a $36,000 feasibility study released last week.

Joe O’Connor, a resident of the King’s Cove neighborhood and a longtime community activist, told East Cobb News that he insisted that Joe Gavalis, president of the Committee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc., offer more clarity about who’s pushing for a portion of East Cobb to become a city.

“I told Joe, ‘you’ve got to be transparent about this,” O’Connor said, recalling his conversation late last week. “His exact words to me were, ‘It’s none of anyone’s business.’ “

In response to questions from East Cobb News, Gavalis on Wednesday did not address O’Connor’s issues with who paid for the feasibility study or his other transparency concerns.

Instead, Gavalis said those who had been invited to serve on an ad hoc citizens group were being made the subject of “some misinformation” by “an attendee who is not for cityhood [and who] chose to share the names of people in the group knowing there were individuals who asked to remain anonymous and who had not made up their minds.”

He said the group is still gathering basic information about possible cityhood. “Many East Cobbers who attended are simply asking questions just like everyone in the aftermath of the Georgia State cityhood feasibility release,” Gavalis said.

East Cobb News contacted some of those individuals. One was upset her name had been given to a reporter and did not want to be interviewed. Some others have not returned messages seeking comment or were unavailable.

O’Connor said he has been friends with Gavalis, a resident of the Atlanta Country Club area, for many years, as they both have served on the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission and the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force.

O’Connor also said he had problems with some of the data and information included in the study compiled by the Georgia State University Center for State and Local Finance. (Read it here, and view a proposed city map here.

City of East Cobb

In a response to written questions from East Cobb News over the weekend, Gavalis declined to say who funded the study or to name the individuals serving on the citizens committee.

He said the cityhood group, the Commitee for East Cobb Cityhood, Inc., has received donations from around the community to fund the study but he provided no specifics.

Among those on the citizens committee is former Cobb commissioner Thea Powell. She told East Cobb News that she thinks the cityhood idea is worthy of consideration, but “the process should have started sooner, of going out into the community.”

Powell—who said she hasn’t formed an opinion about whether East Cobb should be a city—referenced recommendations from the Georgia Municipal Association that strongly encourage cityhood advocates to get community input early on.

O’Connor said his first meeting about the cityhood idea was held in the office of G. Owen Brown, founder of the Retail Planning Corp., a commercial real estate firm located at Paper Mill Village. Brown is listed on the cityhood committee’s state filing documents as its incorporator. Gavalis is the only other individual who has been named.

O’Connor said after he first began reading through the study last week, he “immediately saw problems.”

Some of the statistical data was outdated and inaccurate, he said, and he was troubled by the low number of businesses in the proposed East Cobb city (around 3,300), far fewer than those in Alpharetta, Johns Creek and similar cities that were compared (bottom line in the chart below).

The residential-to-commercial split in the proposed city of East Cobb would be 85 to 15 percent.

“That’s a concern,” O’Connor said. “The other cities have a good combination.” In East Cobb, he said, “we’re so much more residential.”

Powell also noted that those business number stats are from 2012. “We’re working on really old figures when the economy wasn’t doing very well,” she said.

In his response to that issue over the weekend by East Cobb News, Gavalis said that the city of Milton, also in North Fulton, has a similar breakdown of its tax base, and there hasn’t been millage rate increase there since 2006.

Gavalis said he was asked to lead a possible cityhood effort after some citizens complained they didn’t think they were getting their money’s worth in county property taxes. He has not said who any of those people are.

Among the service priorities Gavalis indicated for a possible city of East Cobb were police and fire and community development, including planning and zoning.

A cityhood effort is a two-year process, requiring state legislation calling for a referendum that must be approved by voters living within the proposed city area. Cityhood advocates must also provide a feasibility study.

Gavalis told East Cobb News the community will be informed but did not indicate when that might be. Here’s more of what he told us Wednesday:

“We are in the beginning stages of our planning process and are seeking answers to some legitimate and sincere questions at this time. The Committee is not trying to be evasive but instead we have honored requests from participants who did not want their names disclosed since this group is still informal. We want to be transparent but we are compiling answers to questions about the study and formalizing our strategy on the expertise levels that will be needed to provide insight and professional advice.

“When we complete our strategic plan we will finalize who will be formally asked to join us and then we will announce who has accepted.”

With the possibility of legislation coming in the new year, Powell thinks the larger community should have been told more by now.

“Public input is of utmost importance,” she said. “Ultimately it doesn’t matter what I think. They will have the final say.”

O’Connor has been supportive about a city of East Cobb, writing a letter to the editor of The Marietta Daily Journal and commenting on East Cobb News to that effect.

But, he said, that support is based on solid “facts and numbers” and a willingness to make a good-faith effort to inform the public. He doesn’t think that is happening.

“I’ve always said that if you’re hiding something, then you’ve got something to hide,” O’Connor said.

 

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Walton High School fire breaks out at construction site; no injuries or significant damage reported

Walton High School fire
Photo: Cobb Fire Department

A fire broke out Tuesday at the construction site at Walton High School, where a new gymnasium and fine arts building are being built.

James Kapish, public information officer for the Cobb Fire Department, said the call came in around 4:48 p.m., stating that there was a fire on the roof of the construction area, and that no students nor staff were on scene at the time.

https://twitter.com/SydneeRae4/status/1075147833408438272

Cobb Fire arrived around 5:55 p.m., according to Kapish, who added that there were no injuries. He said fire crews had the remaining workers safely evacuate.

The superintendent of the construction project said that a section of insulation caught fire, Kapish said, but the reason hasn’t been determined.

Firefighters kept the blaze from spreading and it was contained at 5:22 p.m., he said.

Kapish said the  fire was confined to the construction area, and that classes at Walton will operate as normal on Wednesday.

The $31.7 million construction project is taking place on the site of the former Walton classroom building. The new gym and fine arts/theater building, which totals around 151,000 square feet, is scheduled to open for the 2019-20 school year in August.

Cobb schools said preliminary information indicates that the damage from the fire is not significant.

This story will be updated.

More East Cobb school stories

 

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Holly Spring Road senior living proposal, Mt. Bethel Christian stadium case delayed to February

Holly Springs Road senior living proposal

The Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday voted to hold a proposal for a senior living community on Holly Springs Road until February.

The applicant, Loyd Development Services, wants to build 16 single-family homes on 4.3  acres on the east side of Holly Springs, just below the roundabout at Davis Road.

The Cobb Planning Commission voted earlier this month to deny the request for RSL (residential senior living) zoning, saying it was too dense and a category not compatible with nearby residences.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell concurred, and made a motion to hold the case until February, suggesting an R-15 (single-family) category that would meet the 2.5-home-per-acre recommendation by the county zoning staff.

“You can still have the buffers that they’re asking for and address the drainage a little better,” she said.

The land is zoned R-20 with two existing homes, and is part of the Margaret A. Keheley Living Trust.

A resident in the nearby Ashmore community supported the plan, but others were opposed, pointing to density concerns and the fact that the nearest RSL developments are in busier commercial areas.

The proposal would call for 3.7 homes per acre, while a nearby subdivision has homes on around three-quarters of an acre.

Another major East Cobb case on the commissioners’ agenda Tuesday also was delayed.

Mt. Bethel Christian Academy is proposing to build an athletic stadium on its upper school campus on Post Oak Tritt Road, and at the meeting asked for a continuance until February.

Residents in the adjacent Holly Springs subdivision have objected to the proposal, which would include lighting and permanent seating that were restricted when Mt. Bethel obtained the initial land use permit for the 33-arce property in 2013.

Jim Ney, the Mt. Bethel attorney, told commissioners the school has had “a wonderful opportunity to meet with the neighbors” and said discussions will be continuing.

Commissioners denied another residential zoning case in the Northeast Cobb area in a request that was previously withdrawn.

Richard Duncan was seeking an R-12 category for 3.1 acres on Cajun Drive and Piedmont Road to build six homes, refiling his application after initially wanting eight homes.

But Birrell said the revised plan was still incompatible for the area. There was some discussion about holding the case, but Duncan didn’t want to wait until February.

His property changes from the current medium-density residential category under the county’s comprehensive land use plan to low-density status in January.

Before presenting his case, Duncan indicated he was reserving his right to issue a constitutional challenge regarding the use of his property.

The vote against his application was 4-1, with outgoing commissioner Bob Weatherford voting against.

Cobb doesn’t hear zoning cases in January.

 

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