Alyssa Prindle had recently graduated from Pope High School.
An East Cobb teenage girl who fell out of a moving car on Johnson Ferry Road earlier this month has died, and an arrest warrant has been issued for the driver.
Cobb Police Officer Sarah O’Hara said in a release this morning that Alyssa Prindle, 18, who suffered serious injuries in the incident, died Wednesday at WellStar Kennestone Hospital.
O’Hara said that the Cobb County Magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for Abigail Cook, 17, also of East Cobb, for 1st degree vehicular homicide.
According to police, Cook was driving a silver 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe northbound on Johnson Ferry Road near Sewell Mill Road around 2 a.m. on July 5 when Prindle, a backseat passenger, rolled down a window and began hanging out of the vehicle.
Police said Prindle was yelling and screaming and then fell out of the Hyundai. She was taken to Kennestone and placed in ICU, and O’Hara said this morning that she never left the hospital before dying of her injuries.
Cook was booked in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center and charged with DUI, reckless driving, serious injury by vehicle (a felony), underage possession of alcohol, possession of false identification and a violation of class D drivers license hour restrictions. She later bonded out of jail, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records.
A GoFundMe page had been set up by Prindle’s family to pay for medical expenses, but a message posted there Thursday announced that Prindle, a Pope High School graduate, “lost her fight. Her body just couldn’t keep going. There were too many injuries, and the doctors just couldn’t do anything else for her.”
The message continued:
“Please pray for our family as we go through a difficult next few days together.
“Her parents are Todd and Julie, and her 15-yr old brothers are Kyler and Bailey. We would love for you to be praying for them by name, as well as her extended family.”
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The For Pets’ Sake Arts and Crafts Show will feature more than 20 arts and crafts makers selling their goods from 12-4 Sunday at the Olde Towne Athletic Club.
The proceeds will benefit five animal organizations which will also be on hand. The club is located at 4950 Olde Towne Parkway. Admission is free, and so is parking.
Caron Olson and Mary Boyle co-founded the event, and here’s Caron to explain how and why they got involved in this project, which sprang from their common interests in animal rescue:
The first year the event was held at a gallery where we both had booths (she makes jewelry & I do mosaics). We wanted to bring people in to shop and, to support & give exposure to some small animal rescue groups. The event had a good response, and we believe in what these groups are doing. So, even though our original venue has closed, we found a new place and are very excited for this year.
Our non-profits will be there to share their stories and we will have some wonderful handmade/handcrafted vendors. New this year are sponsors who have their logo/info printed on, and inserts in a tote bag we will be giving to shoppers. We will also have a number of gift baskets that will be raffled (cash only). Net money raised from booth fees, sponsorships and raffle baskets will be divided equally among the 5 non-profits.
Each organization will be present to discuss their rescue missions, talk about adoption-ready cats and dogs, and explain ways the community can help them fulfill their goals.
For Pets’ Sake arts and crafts vendors:
A Fur Baby Favorite (accessories for pets & pet lovers)
Baked with Love Treats (healthy dog & cat treats)
Birdie’s Soap Nest (soap & bath products)
Creative Expression Studio (paintings, animal portraits)
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Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce took his call for a property increase to citizens for several months, including town hall meetings this summer. (East Cobb News file photo)
After more than three hours of public speakers and comments from commissioners, a Cobb tax increase was approved Wednesday night.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to approve a property tax hike of 1.7 mills and a fiscal year budget of $454 million for the general fund.
Chairman Mike Boyce, who said he was staking his political future on the outcome, got everything he wanted.
In addition to getting the vote of South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, the only Democrat on the five-member board, he also got the vote of Republican Bob Weatherford, who as it turned out may have sacrificed his political future in the process.
Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell, who represent East Cobb in Districts 2 and 3, respectively, voted against the budget and the millage rate increase.
While Ott said he wouldn’t support an increase without spending cuts that weren’t presented, Birrell said she would have been in favor of a hike of 1.2 or 1.3 mills but nothing more.
Weatherford, defeated in his re-election bid Tuesday night in a Republican runoff in North Cobb’s District 1 by an anti-tax increase opponent, proved to be the swing vote.
He said after reflecting on his big loss (59-41 percent to Keli Gambrill) that he naturally wondered what had gone wrong.
“It’s what I did right that people didn’t like,” said Weatherford, who will have served only one term. “I made the hard choices and did what I said I would do.”
He said that he’s been threatened and even challenged to a fistfight for his calls for a lesser tax increase than what passed.
“The only thing I’m running for now is the hills, but I do not want to leave the county worse than than when I got here,” he said.
“So I completely support this.”
With that, loud applause broke out in the commissioners’ meeting chambers.
But plenty of citizens spoke against a tax increase, saying the county had a spending problem and wasn’t looking for efficiencies.
The 1.7 mills would push the general fund rate to 8.46 mills, generate around $47 million in additional revenue, and go beyond solving what Boyce has said is a projected $30 million deficit for FY 2019. The extra funds include $15 million more for public safety and the restoration of some Sunday library hours.
East Cobb residents Debbie Fisher and Jan Barton, vigorously opposed to a tax hike, continued to dispute the severity of the deficit.
Pamela Reardon, an East Cobb realtor and 1st vice chair of the Cobb Republican Party, which passed a resolution Tuesday against a tax increase, said the county must “learn to live within its means,” especially with a record county tax digest in 2018.
Another East Cobb resident, retiree Frank Maleski, recited a long list of taxes he pays and said “I can’t afford to pay for any more government.”
Other East Cobb residents were adamant in support of a tax hike.
One of them is attorney Lance LoRusso, who represents Cobb public safety personnel. The budget will fund 23 more police officer positions as well as vehicles and body cameras.
Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb and District 2.
He worried that failing to provide resources to police officers and sheriff’s deputies would prompt existing personnel to look elsewhere for better opportunities.
Another is JoEllen Smith, who ran as Republican for a legislative seat in East Cobb in 2013. She said she estimated her tax bill would go up by around $200 a year, or $16 a month. The weekly boost of around $4, she told commissioners, amounted to a cup of coffee.
“I’d give up a Starbucks so police can have whatever the hell they want,” said Smith, who apologized for her language.
In lengthy prepared remarks, Ott outlined many reasons for voting for any tax increase at all, including the fact that many of the services that were listed as possible cost savings—including parks, libraries and the Cobb animal services program—were not included in Boyce’s budget.
He likened this budget to the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST, which he said had a lot of “wants” but not much in the way of “needs.”
He also advocated that the county consider a regional library concept to consolidate branches that are little-used.
While “nothing on my list is absolute,” Ott said the county has to grapple with growing concerns like employee pensions and pay increases, especially when “the tax digest is the highest it’s ever been.”
Boyce, a Republican from East Cobb who’s been vilified in the Marietta paper in the days leading up to the vote, said “I didn’t have to do the town halls. But I believe in the people in this county. This is how I govern. I talk to you. I want you to tell us what’s on your mind.”
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With Dodgen principal Dr. Loralee Hill applauding, Fred Veeder reacts to being named the Cobb middle school teacher of the year by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale Wednesday. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Fred Veeder was sitting in the cafeteria with his peers Wednesday morning, shortly after a welcome-back staff breakfast. The Dodgen Middle School teacher had no idea he was about to become the center of attention.
Then an entourage from the Cobb County School District, including superintendent Chris Ragsdale, entered the room, along with Veeder’s sister and mother.
He had been chosen the Cobb district’s middle school teacher of the year, and he was completely blown away by the honor.
The surprise announcements were repeated for teachers at Nickajack Elementary School in Smyrna and Harrison High School in Kennesaw.
Ragsdale, who told the Dodgen teachers that “you are the rock stars” of the school district, said breaking the news to the selected teachers is “probably one of my favorite things to do.”
A seventh grade math teacher at Dodgen for the last 15 years, Veeder was humble in being asked to speak to his colleagues.
“This is for all of us, not just me,” Veeder said.
Dodgen Middle School teachers listen to Fred Veeder after he was named a Cobb teacher of the year finalist.
Asked later what the honor means, Veeder still couldn’t believe it. “Oh God,” he said. “It just blows me away. I just love the job so much. That’s the reward in itself. This. . . this is surreal.”
Teaching is a second career for Veeder. He previously owned a Chevron station in Buckhead. After selling that business, he decided to go back to college and complete his education.
He’s been at Dodgen all 15 years as a public school teacher, but his teaching career isn’t a happenstance. His mother was a seventh grade math teacher before him, and she warmly embraced him at the celebration.
“He was just born to be a math teacher,” Dr. Loralee Hill, the Dodgen principal, said of Veeder. “It’s in his blood.”
Dodgen Middle School teacher Fred Veeder gets a hug from his mother, a retired 7th grade math teacher.
She said that what distinguishes Veeder is a “passion for the kids that’s insurmountable” and his success in engaging with them in the classroom.
Hill said while Veeder is a demanding teacher in a demanding subject, the way he questions students in classes is among the best she’s observed by a teacher.
Veeder also has been a sponsor of the Dodgen math club while teaching a 7th grade honors class. Hill said students taking math support classes eagerly sign up for him to be their teacher.
Not only is Veeder constantly willing to collaborate and learn new things, Hill said, he passes on that knowledge.
“He’s a legend in our community,” Hill said.
Veeder is a finalist for the Cobb County School District teacher of the year, which will be named after the start of the school year.
Among the perks is the free use of a vehicle of his choice for this school year from the Ed Voyles dealerships.
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Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce, a Republican from East Cobb, says a tax hike is necessary to move the county forward. (East Cobb News file photo)
While runoff election results were coming in on Tuesday, word was getting out that the Cobb Republican Party urged commissioners not to raise property taxes when they vote on the fiscal year 2019 county budget tonight.
Earlier Tuesday, the Cobb GOP passed a resolution encouraging the commissioners and all elected officials to “exercise fiscal restraint” and called a proposed tax hike “an undue burden on the community.”
The resolution will be presented by Cobb GOP chairman Jason Shepherd tonight as the Cobb Board of Commissioners is holding its final public hearings on the budget and millage rate at 7 p.m., before adopting both.
The resolution states, in part that:
“Cobb County Government should only provide services not readily available in the private sector and which are not core services of local civil government, especially when facing a budget shortfall;”
Also:
” . . . there have been several examples identified of waste in Cobb County Government spending, and no operational audit of the county government has been performed, nor have any reductions in spending been proposed at the townhall meetings hosted by the Chairman, but many increases in spending have been proposed . . . and a tax increase would be an undue burden on the community.”
The resolution comes at the end of a final push for and against Commission Chairman Mike Boyce’s proposed 1.7-mills tax increase.
He’s taken his proposed $453 million general fund budget around the county at town hall meetings, and citizens on both sides of a tax hike have been vocal.
The Cobb GOP is making a strong statement on a five-member board with four Republican members, including Boyce, who’s from East Cobb. He’s said the tax hike would help move the county forward beyond solving a projected fiscal year 2019 deficit of $30 million.
“It’s $30 million in an economy of billions. You would think we’re living in Albania! I just don’t understand.”
The Cobb GOP’s resolution echoes the calls of tax hike opponents who said the county needs to do more to find efficiencies, but is aimed at Republican votes on the commission.
District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb has said the vote “is very close right now” and said she is considering all comments from constituents.
Another Republican commissioner, who has been targeted by tax increase opponents, lost his bid for re-election last night. Bob Weatherford of District 1 in North Cobb was easily defeated in a runoff by Keli Gambrill, a first-time political candidate, who campaigned against a tax increase. She will join the commission in January since she has no Democratic opponent in the general election.
Weatherford still has a vote tonight, and he and Birrell said at a public hearing last week that a compromise figure on a millage rate increase could be likely.
Commissioner Bob Ott, a Republican who represents East Cobb in District 2, has said he opposes the budget proposal without any significant spending cuts.
Boyce has the support of South Cobb Commissioner Lisa Cupid, the only Democrat, who thinks an additional 1.7 mills is not enough.
The public hearings and commissioners meeting takes place in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
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Lucy McBath, a gun-control advocate from East Cobb, has won the 6th Congressional District Democratic runoff.
With all 207 precincts reporting, she won with a 54-46 percent margin, collecting 14,270 votes. Kevin Abel, a Sandy Springs technology entrepreneur, received 12,258 votes.
McBath decisively won in her home base of East Cobb by a 59-41 percent spread, with 4,389 votes to 3,053 for Abel, as all 50 precincts have reported.
She also got 6,090 votes in Fulton to 5,313 for Abel, a 53-47 percent margin, with all 114 precincts reporting.
In DeKalb, Abel won 51-49 percent, with 3,892 votes to 3,791 for McBath, with all 43 precincts reporting.
She had trailed in early results. But as the evening wore on, she increased her margins in East Cobb. McBath won the precincts indicated in dark red on the map at the right.
Abel won the precincts in dark green. Click here for more details and to scroll over each precinct result.
In November McBath will face Republican U.S. Rep Karen Handel.
UPDATED 9:50 P.M.:
The 6th Congressional District Democratic runoff is neck-and-neck, but it’s hard to tell how much of the overall vote has been counted. That’s because the Georgia Secretary of State’s office still has 0% of the overall vote counted in the district.
Lucy McBath of East Cobb leads Kevin Abel of Sandy Springs 50-49, by 31 votes (6,879 to 6,848).
In her home base of East Cobb, she leads Abel 57-42 with 42 percent of the precincts reporting.
McBath leads Abel by a slender margin in DeKalb of 51-49 with 53 percent of the precincts reporting. In Fulton, Abel leads 55-45 percent, but no precincts have fully reported.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has just made his concession speech as Secretary of State Brian Kemp is en route to a landslide victory in the Republican runoff for Georgia governor.
With 45 percent of the votes counted, Kemp leads 68-32 percent statewide. Even in Cobb County, which was considered a battleground, Kemp leads easily, 55-45 percent, with 45 percent of the votes counted as well.
We will be updating this post throughout the evening and on our Facebook and Twitter channels.
Cagle and Kemp had been locked in a close battle as the runoff approached.
But President Donald Trump endorsed Kemp just a few days before the runoff, right after outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal backed Cagle. Tight polls gave way to a Kemp lead over the weekend, and Kemp cited the Trump factor in his victory speech to supporters in Athens.
Another issue that came up during the runoff campaign was the release of a secret audio recording of Cagle admitting he supported a bill regarding tax credits for private schools to hurt a primary opponent.
In the November general election, Kemp will face Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams of Atlanta. The former Georgia House Minority Leader, she is attempting to become the first black female governor of any state.
UPDATED 8:30 P.M.
With 33 percent of precincts reporting, Kemp leads Cagle 66-34 percent.
The first results from Cobb show that Kemp leads Cagle 60-40 with 24 percent of the vote counted.
Also on Tuesday’s ballot is a GOP runoff between Commissioner Bob Weatherford of District 1 in North Cobb and Keli Gambrill. With nearly 75 percent of the votes counted, Gambrill was leading 59-41 percent.
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East Cobb commissioners Bob Ott (L) and JoAnn Birrell at a budget retreat in June. (East Cobb News file photo)
While voters are going to the polls in today’s election runoffs, county elected officials are preparing to vote on a Cobb budget proposal on Wednesday that’s been months in the making, and hashing out.
Starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, citizens will have their final say in required public hearings for the fiscal year 2019 budget and 2018 property tax millage rate held by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The commissioners will vote on both at the same meeting. It takes place in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building at 100 Cherokee St. in downtown Marietta.
Commissioners heard plenty from citizens on both sides of a proposed tax increase of 1.7 mills last week, and the vote will probably be a very close one.
The budget and millage rate votes are being delayed a day due to the Tuesday runoffs.
Commission chairman Mike Boyce is proposing a $453 million general fund budget that includes the hiring of police officers and partial restoration of Sunday library hours cut during the recession.
While supporters of the tax increase include library and UGA Cobb Extension advocates, critics said Boyce didn’t look hard enough for cuts to reduce a projected $30 million deficit.
Citizen groups were urging their supporters early this week to make final contact with commissioners about the vote.
Rachel Slomovitz of East Cobb, who created the Save Cobb Libraries group and who supports a tax increase, posted on Facebook Sunday that “starting tomorrow until Wednesday night we need your voice. We need you to email or call your Commissioner, and tell them you want the libraries to remain open, in business and don’t want to see them on the chopping block.”
Members of the Cobb chapter of Americans for Prosperity, which opposes a tax hike, were knocking on doors Monday in District 3 in Northeast Cobb. That’s represented by commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who said the vote is “very close right now” and that she is considering every letter and call from constituents.
AFP also canvassed over the weekend in District 1 in North Cobb. That’s where commissioner Bob Weatherford is in a Republican runoff today against Keli Gambrill, who’s against a tax increase.
“We will have green shirts and signs [at Wednesday’s meeting] to let our commissioners know that we adamantly oppose the property tax hike and that our citizens are calling for fiscal viability as the baseline for our county’s governance,” AFP said in an e-mail communication to supporters.
Birrell is leery of a 1.7 millage rate increase, although she said the budget can’t be balanced on cuts alone. She said a compromise might be the best solution, and Weatherford said a likely figure the commission might settle on is a hike between 1.1 and 1.7 mills.
Boyce, of East Cobb, and Lisa Cupid of South Cobb’s District 4 support the increase, although Cupid thinks it should be higher.
Commissioner Bob Ott, of District 2 in East Cobb, has said he would not vote for the proposed budget without seeing more spending cuts.
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He had two bone marrow transplants and was treated at hospitals in Seattle and New York during his three-year fight, according to his obituary.
Olszewski usually wears No. 68 and also is listed as an offensive and defensive lineman.
The Greyhounds, like other high school football teams in Cobb, will soon begin practice for the 2018 season. They were 4-7 last year under first-year coach Tab Griffin, a former Pope player.
Pope’s season opener is Aug. 24 at Lassiter.
The Greyhounds also designate a home game each season as the Matt Hobby Game. This year that game is Sept. 14 against Alpharetta, and fundraising proceeds from a special T-shirt sale will go to the Atlanta-based Rally Foundation, which conducts childhood cancer research.
Pope efforts in Hobby’s memory have raised more than $200,000 for the Rally Foundation over the last 12 years.
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Cobb Police said a 68-year-old woman suffered serious injuries Saturday afternoon in a Powers Ferry Road crash.
Public Information Officer Sarah O’Hara said in a statement issued Monday that Lynda Phillips of Marietta was taken to WellStar Kennestone Hospital after the incident.
O’Hara said Phillips was driving a gray 2007 Saturn VUE northbound on Powers Ferry Road, north of Windy Hill Road, around 3:18 p.m. Saturday when the she lost control of the vehicle.
The Saturn crashed into a curb, then hit a retaining wall, according to police. O’Hara said a medical emergency may have caused the crash, but police are continuing to investigate.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Cobb County Police Department’s STEP Unit at 770-499-3987.
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We’ve just started the last full week before the start of another school year in Cobb County, but it’s going to feel like the hot summer it still is.
On Tuesday voters go to the polls in runoff elections to determine nominees for governor, lieutenant governor, 6th District Congress and more. The polls are open from 7-7.
From 5-7 Tuesday, the Road Runner Sports store at Merchants Walk (1311 Johnson Ferry Road) is holding a Strut Your Mutt event to benefit the East Cobb-based Good Mews Animal Foundation, with refreshments, a raffle, discounts and vendor giveaways.
On Wednesday, a pain relief meditation session takes place at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road), and patrons (ages 18+ only) will learn how to tap into the mind/body connection and how to use it in pain management. You’ll need to register first by calling the library information desk at 770-509-2730.
On Wednesday night, after many town hall meetings and public hearings, the Cobb Board of Commissioners is set to adopt the 2018 millage rate and FY 2019 budget. Here’s a roundup of our coverage; the meeting starts at 7 in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
A couple of other big-screen events to round out our early-midweek lineup: The Classic Movie Thursdays screening from 2-4 at the Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road) is “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” directed by Stephen Spielberg, and you can bring your own food and drink.
From 8-10 Thursday is a showing of the Disney/Pixar hit “Coco” at The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road), as part of its Summer Concert Series. Pre-movie festivities begin at 7 p.m., with games, music, and arts and crafts. Food will be available for purchase, and you can also your own food.
Check our full calendar listings for more to do, this week and beyond, and send us your calendar items. E-mail us at: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and we’ll post it.
Have a great week!
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We saw this over the weekend, at the intersection of Holt Road and Old Sewell Road. There’s not a description of the shelled diapsid on the loose, but here’s how you can get in touch.
Do you have photos to share with the community? Send them to us, we’ll post ’em! E-mail us at: editor@eastcobbnews with relevant details and credit information.
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A Casteel Road closure that’s been in place since the start of summer school vacation will be lasting into the start of a new school year.
Ongoing construction work to replace the aging Piney Grove Creek bridge means that Casteel Road will now be closed until Aug. 15.
Initially DOT had estimated a completion around July 31, since Cobb schools return on Aug. 1.
The $1.2 million projectincludes a wider passage on Casteel Road over the bridge, with shoulders, sidewalks and barriers on both sides, and a reconfiguration of its intersection with Bill Murdock Road and Oak Lane.
Through traffic on all three roads near the bridge site is being met with signs like the above, on Bill Murdock at Blakeford Club Drive.
A detour route prepared by Cobb DOT and mapped below continues to be in effect until the bridge work is done and the roads are reopened.
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Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (L) and Secretary of State Brian Kemp have received endorsements from Gov. Nathan Deal and President Donald Trump, respectively.
Voters will pick nominees in several key statewide and Congressional races in the Georgia runoff election on Tuesday.
At the top of the ticket, Republican voters will select a gubernatorial nominee in what’s become a tumultuous runoff battle, as well as GOP nominees for lieutenant governor and secretary of state.
Democratic voters in the 6th Congressional District, which includes East Cobb, also will choose a nominee for the November general election.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Cobb Elections website has sample ballots, precinct addresses and information on how you can find your polling station.
In the GOP governor’s race, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle was enjoying a lead in most polls and received an endorsement last week from outgoing Gov. Nathan Deal. But then President Donald Trump endorsed Cagle’s opponent, Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
Cobb is considered a battleground county, and Cagle and Kemp have campaigned here frequently. Two East Cobb lawmakers have come down on either side of the runoff. Cagle has the support of State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, while State. Rep. Sharon Cooper is backing Kemp.
The winner faces Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams, the former Georgia House Minority Leader, in November.
In the lieutenant governor Republican runoff, state senator David Shafer is facing Geoff Duncan, a former member of the state house.
In the 6th Congressional District Democratic runoff, gun-control advocate Lucy McBath, an East Cobb resident, is facing technology entrepreneur Kevin Abel of Sandy Springs.
The winner will face Republican U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in November.
One of the two seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners that’s contested this year will be decided Tuesday. Incumbent Bob Weatherford is facing Keli Gambrill in the GOP runoff for District 1 in North Cobb.
Incumbent commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District 3 in Northeast Cobb won the Republican primary and is being challenged in November by Democrat Caroline Holko.
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Geeks of all ages showed up Saturday for the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center Mini Con, which included a broad range of activities in the comic and digital arts.
The event included workshops and demonstrations, live music, food and vendors using most of the new facility’s creative arts space.
The highlight of the afternoon was a costume contest, with winners and runners-up in children and adult divisions. While Star Wars characters were popular, so were the likes of Elvis Presley and Monty Python characters.
Among the many activities for children were demonstrations from members of the Giga-Bites Cafe tabletop gaming store in East Cobb.
James Mitchell of the Sewell Mill Library organized the event and said around 1,000 attended in all, including many who had not been to the library before.
Like other events at the library since it opened last December, Mini Con was designed to attract not only new faces, but to demonstrate the unifying forces of the creative arts, across many platforms and genres.
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The East Cobb Robotics club is inviting high school students to two informational meetings next month as a new school year and a new slate of group activities are about to begin.
Here’s how the club’s getting out the word for prospective new members:
Are you a creative writer, web or graphic designer, social media expert or video editor?
Are you interested in community service, marketing or running a small business?
If you want to sharpen your skills and round out our successful team we’re in need of your talent and passion! We’re East Cobb Robotics, a community robotics team (and small business!) made up of public, private, and homeschooled high school students across East Cobb. Building and driving the robot is only a small part of what makes us successful. We have the engineering and programming part handled (you’ll never have to pick up a wrench!), but we need YOUR unique skills to help us grow! We can help sharpen those skills while gaining real life experience in a fun, team atmosphere.
If this is you, please come to one of our Information Meetings to learn more and see how we can help each other learn and succeed.
Fall Info Meetings: Mountain View Library 3320 Sandy Plains Rd, Marietta, GA 30066 Wednesday, August 8, 2018 7:00pm – 8:00pm Saturday, August 11, 2018 11:30am – 12:30pm
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Thanks to Christi Trombetti for sending us the following information about the very first Pope Greyhound Gallop, Saturday, Aug. 18. The 5K starts at 7:30 a.m. and will take place at multi-sports complex at Pope High School (3001 Hembree Road). The cost is $25 per person, and here’s what it’s all about:
The inaugural 2018 Greyhound Gallop is brought to you by the Pope Touchdown Club. Some proceeds will go to the Touchdown Club to help pay for the Pope Football program and for the Pope Field House which is enjoyed by the entire Pope community.
A portion of the funds can also be directed to any of the Pope teams or groups listed on the Pope clubs website.
The Greyhound Gallop is a great way to start the new school year with a feeling of community, togetherness and Greyhound spirit in preparation for our Fall sports seasons.
Please join us for this inaugural event and get ready to embrace the incredible spirit of the Greyhound Nation.
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The office is located at 2932 Canton Road, in the Market Plaza Shopping Center (just north of the Piedmont Road intersection).
The closure begins next Wednesday, July 25, with reopening in the fall. A specific date hasn’t been mentioned.
If you use that office and need tag services during the renovations, alternate locations include the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).
Other tag offices are at 4700 Austell Road, 3858 Kemp Ridge Road and 700 South Cobb Drive, as well as self-serve kiosks at the Austell Road and South Cobb Road locations and the Kroger at 3240 South Cobb Drive.
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By a unanimous 7-0 vote Thursday, the Cobb Board of Education approved a measure to increase a Cobb school employee pay raise over what was adopted in May.
The extra 1.5-percent raise comes on top of 1.1-percent raises that were previously approved for all 15,000 Cobb County School District employees, as well as 1.1-percent bonuses.
The school board also voted Thursday to establish the 2018 millage rate at 18.9 mills, a figure that has been in place for 11 years.
The Cobb schools fiscal year 2019 budget that began July 1 is $1.2 billion.
The raises will cost just under $22 million. The additional raises were proposed by Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale after the Cobb tax digest grew more than school officials anticipated.
They had forecast 6 percent growth, but the net tax digest increase for Cobb schools for 2018 ended up being 8.2 percent. The Cobb tax digest for this year is a record $36.7 billion.
Ragsdale said not all of the extra money is being used for the raises, although “a vast majority” of the $38 million more coming into school district coffers is. He said the school system wasn’t able to afford a pay raise last year and he wanted to reward staff when it was fiscally possible to do so.
At a public hearing Thursday afternoon, Donna Rowe of the Cobb Association of Realtors expressed concern about basing pay raises on revenue from property values.
“That is a fluctuating thing and it is dictated by the market,” said Rowe, who is based at the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in East Cobb.
She said she was speaking as a citizen, mindful of the real estate market during the recession.
Ragsdale addressed that concern, saying that “we not spending every single dollar” of the tax digest windfall on raises.
“Yes, it’s recurring revenue, but it’s prudent for us to make sure that we are financially stable” in case of unexpected expenses, he said.
The board approved the pay raises without discussion.
The additional pay boost, which also will apply to substitute teachers, is “a great step forward,” said Cobb County Association of Educators head Connie Jackson, who had been pressing for a 2.6 percent raise.
That’s what has come to pass, thanks to the additional tax digest growth and another $10 million in state funding due to the termination of state education austerity cuts.
The bonuses will be paid in December. Eligible teachers also will be receiving STEP increases based on their years of service.
Cobb teachers returned this week to begin preparing for the 2018-19 school year. The first day of classes is Aug. 1.
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The Sewell Mill Library Mini Con that’s set for Saturday is one of the new facility’s most ambitious events yet.
It’s from 1-6, and like the world-famous Comic-Con International taking place this weekend in San Diego, is a celebration of comics arts and related popular culture.
There will be a Cosplay contest, panels and workshops on the digital arts, local artists and vendors (including the Giga-Bites Café of East Cobb) and food purchases from Good Food Marietta across the street and more.
The activities also include a Dungeons & Dragons Adventure League all day, tabletop games, 3D printing demos and Captain Underpants games.
The full schedule can be found here with links to much of what’s going on.
James Mitchell of the Sewell Mill Library explained the evolution of Mini Con to East Cobb News:
“Mini Con started as an idea from the Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center staff to bring together local community partners including local artist, writers, gamers, podcasters, cosplayers, businesses, and filmmakers into one local event.
“We have tried to create an event that has something for everyone: food, live music, workshops, a costume contest, face painting, board gaming, D&D, and much more. We have been very fortunate to have found so many volunteers in the community to help with the project.
“It is really that community that makes this and other events possible. We are all geeks at heart here at Sewell Mill and look forward to sharing that experience with the public.”
All events are free and open to all ages. The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center is located at 2051 Lower Roswell Road.
On Friday and Saturday, the work of the Bard comes to Sandy Plains Road, but it will be something of a bittersweet event. William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” is being presented at The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road).
The shows, which start at 7:30 each night, will be the last for the Different Drum Theatrics group. The student-focused outfit is “closing up shop with heavy hearts” due to a lack of participants.
Classic cars will be on display Sunday at Bradley’s Bar & Grill.
Ticket prices are $12 at the door and $13 if you’re using a credit card.
From 3-7 Sunday, Bradley’s Bar & Grill (4961 Lower Roswell Road, French Quarter Shopping Center) is holding its 2nd annual Car Show. This year, the beneficiary is the Orphan Annie Animal Rescue organization. There will be food, live music, classic cars and games and prizes.
The 181st Marietta Campmeeting is winding down this weekend, with 11 a.m. services Friday-Sunday and 7:30 p.m. services on Friday and Saturday. The Marietta Campground is located at 2300 Roswell Road, and overflow parking is available across the street at East Cobb United Methodist Church. The services are free to all.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar item you’d like to share with the community? Send it to us, and we’ll spread the word! E-mail: calendar@eastcobbnews.com, and you can include a photo or flyer if you like.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, make it a great one! Enjoy!
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Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell’s office has sent out word that Cedar Forks Drive, a neighborhood street in East Cobb located off Holly Springs Road, is closed until around 5 p.m. today for emergency sewer repairs.
That’s just north of the intersection of Holly Springs and Old Canton Road and is indicated by the blue box in the map above.
Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority crews have been on the scene since around 9 a.m.
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