Several restaurants in East Cobb will be participating in Cobb Travel and Tourism’s annual Cobb Foodie Week promotion.
The event takes place from Sept. 6-13, and customers will be able to redeem digital coupons for meals, appetizers and other menu items from more than 50 restaurants in Cobb.
The restaurants will be detailing their specific promotions at cobbfoodieweek.com by the end of August. Here’s who’s taking part in East Cobb:
Camps Kitchen and Bar (Paper Mill Village)
Cuban Diner (East Marietta Shopping Center)
Green Coyote Cantina (Paper Mill Village)
Marlow’s Tavern Merchants Walk
Marlow’s Tavern (Sandy Plains Shopping Center)
Mezza Luna Italian Restaurant (Pavilions at East Lake)
Peach State Pizza (Avenue East Cobb)
Press Waffle Co. (Avenue East Cobb)
Round Trip Brewing Company (Avenue East Cobb)
Seed Kitchen & Bar (Merchants Walk)
Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery (Avenue East Cobb)
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Six years after opening in Merchants Walk, the Duck Donuts store in East Cobb will be closing at the end of next week.
Co-owners Christine and Andrew Doring made the announcement Tuesday on the store’s Facebook page, saying the closure is due to “reasons beyond our control” but they did not elaborate.
“We can not thank you enough for your support over the last six years. We have truly enjoyed serving you.”
The last day of business will be Sunday, Aug. 17 for the made-to-order donut business, which is based in Pennsylvania and has more than 100 stores nationwide.
“We are proud to say we are not closing because of financial reasons. We have built a nice small business here,” Christine Doring said in response to a comment from a customer.
East Cobb News has left a message seeking more information.
The Dorings opened the first Atlanta-area Duck Donuts at 1281 Johnson Ferry Road in July 2019. There are two others that have opened since, in Acworth and Alpharetta.
“Hope to see you at the store during these final two weeks for one more ‘Warm, Delicious, Made-to-Order Donut!’ ” the Dorings’ message said.
Customers will get 35 percent off their orders when redeeming Duck Donut gift cards through the closure.
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Anne Crispell said she keeps her 2-year-old child with dogs she’s training at her home in East Cobb: “Do they look dangerous? No. I’m a mother.” Screenshot photos.
The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to hold a request for a dog- training and boarding business at an East Cobb home after lengthy discussion and disagreements among neighbors.
After mulling over stipulations to include in a recommendation for approval, the board voted 5-0 to continue to September a request by Anne Crispell for a 24-month land-use permit at her home on Leafwood Drive (you can read the case filing here).
Her residence is located on a cul-de-sac in the Stratford subdivision, located off Terrell Mill Road and across from Brumby Elementary School and East Cobb Middle School.
She said she’s been keeping the dogs of friends and others she knows at her home since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the most dogs she has had on her property at any one time is six.
Some are boarded there while their owners are on vacation, and others receive dog training. She lives in the home with her husband and two-year-old child and two dogs of their own.
Anne Crispell
Crispell is a professional and licensed dog trainer, and says she works with dogs who need to learn behavior modification. She says the dogs who board with her do not do well in a sheltered environment.
But neighbors have complained that the dogs at times have been a nuisance, making noise while unattended in the back yard, and have engaged in dog fighting.
Crispell said she received a citation from Cobb County Code Enforcement that was left on her front door in May, saying she was running an improper home business and didn’t have a business license.
During sometimes tearful testimony Tuesday, Crispell said she never intended on making this a business, but was trying to help friends who have had difficulty boarding and training their dogs.
“This is the perfect opportunity for me to make a difference in our community,” said Crispell, who according to Cobb property records has lived in the home since 2018. “I’m helping families who are struggling with their dogs.”
A neighbor who lives across the street, Ryan Simmons, vouched for Crispell, saying that some of the complaints are “alarmist and inaccurate.” He said the dogs he’s seen are well-behaved and that “there’s no nuisance or evidence of harm” and that there’s widespread support for her in the neighborhood.
But while he was the only resident who spoke in support of Crispell, there was vocal opposition for the dog-boarding part of her business from other neighbors.
Michelle Kubea, who lives next door to Crispell, claimed she’s the only person “who’s seen what absolutely goes on there,” including “countless acts of neglect” and violent dog fights from her back patio.
James Gilmore and Kristina Hopkins, who live behind Crispell on Countryside Place, said they’ve seen the same thing, and said neighbors on their street are solidly opposed to allowing a dog-training business.
“It’s just not appropriate for a residential area,” Hopkins said.
Neighbors said they’ve seen dogs fighting and being a nuisance while unattended in Crispell’s backyard.
Crispell denied that the dogs she’s taking in exhibit violent tendencies, and she showed a slide of two of the dogs she’s kept laying on a sofa, with her child nearby.
“Do they look dangerous?” she said, referring to the dogs. “No. I’m a mother. I’m not running a dog park. This is a controlled environment.”
When Planning Commission member Deborah Dance asked about the claims of dog fighting, Crispell said that it was “totally false.” She explained that dogs can be naturally aggressive in ways that might seem excessive, and “then I have to make a correction.”
Crispell’s home is located in a tight cul-de-sac in a neighborhood off Terrell Mill Road.
She said that she needs to get approval for the business because it’s the family’s only source of income, and that they wouldn’t living be there for another two years, as they would be looking to live “in a better school district.”
Dance, whose District 3 includes the East Cobb area, said of Crispell’s business that “I think the current use is too intense” for the neighborhood. Unlike some other cases on Tuesday’s agenda that involved home-based business, “this one is on a different footing.”
The board discussion included suggestions that only one dog be allowed to be boarded at any given time, and a maximum of four dogs in total.
Crispell told Dance she’d be open to restrictions, and said that “I’ve taken so many precautions to make sure the impact has been minimal.” She said she has never been contacted or cited for nuisance issues.
But neighbors disputed her claims that Cobb Animal Services has never received complaints about the dogs.
Gilmore said while he supports Crispell having a dog-boarding business, “it needs to be in the proper setting.”
Right before the vote, Dance urged the parties to talk things over after the meeting—Crispell’s was the last case on the agenda—because “there may be a better way to do it.”
“There may be a better way to do this,” Planning Commission member Deborah Dance said of a dispute among neighbors over Crispell’s dog-training business.
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William Tanks, Cobb Library Foundation treasurer, with (L-R) executive director Sandra Morris, vice president Nona Lay and board member Judy Boyce. Thursday’s tree dedication honored his late wife Lee Ann. Photos courtesy Cobb County Public Library System.
Submitted information and photos:
On Thursday, July 31st, the Cobb Library Foundation hosted a heartfelt tree dedication ceremony at the Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center to honor the life and memory of Lee Ann Tanks. A Cherokee Brave Dogwood was planted in her name, a living tribute to a woman remembered for her unwavering faith, deep love for her family, and quiet, enduring service to the Cobb community.
Lee Ann (September 14, 1968 – June 7, 2025) spent over 24 years in public safety, serving as both a 911 dispatcher and a Fire Investigator Technician in the Fire Marshal’s Office. She was known for her strong but gentle spirit, and for a life guided by compassion, commitment, and kindness.
Among her greatest joys was being a mother to her son, U.S. Marine Justin Bradley Jean. Lee Ann was endlessly proud of him and poured her heart into raising him with faith and love.
Later in life, she married her soulmate, William “Bill” Tanks, City Manager of Mableton, GA– with her dearest friend Carla at her side as maid of honor. Bill, a dedicated member of the Cobb Library Foundation, became not only her loving husband and best friend, but a proud and caring bonus dad to Justin. Through their union, Lee Ann also gained three beloved bonus children: Eboni, Phillip (Catherine), and Naomi Tanks. Together, they built a life full of laughter, love, and cherished memories.
“Lee Ann was the kind of person who made everyone feel seen, supported, and loved,” said Sandra Morris, Executive Director of the Cobb Library Foundation. “She and Bill were longtime supporters of the Foundation, and it’s an honor to recognize her in a way that reflects the warmth, strength, and kindness she shared with others. Planting this tree is a lasting tribute to her legacy.”
To honor her as she lived—and as she wished to be remembered—the Cobb Library Foundation planted a tree in her name. The Cherokee Brave Dogwood, symbolic of strength, courage, and grace, now grows in the heart of the Sewell Mill Library grounds, offering a peaceful space for reflection and remembrance.
A touching moment during the ceremony came when Sandra Morris, Executive Director of the Cobb Library Foundation, shared an original poem written in Lee Ann’s memory:
YOU
Left us too soon, but you’re ever-present,
Every day. Always in our hearts, Never to be forgotten. Now rest in peace knowing that we’re
Thinking of you. And thankful to have known you. Not a person in the world like you!!
Knowing you made a difference,
Sweet friend.
The ceremony brought together family, friends, and library staff to celebrate her legacy. Through the growth of this tree, her spirit and values will continue to thrive in the very community she loved.
Tanks is a former Cobb County Director of Public Services.The newly planted tree honors the memory of his late wife Lee Ann, who died in June.Lee Ann Tanks was a 911 dispatcher and a Fire Investigator Technician in the Fire Marshal’s Office.
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An update to a story we posted last month about the site of the former McAfee House in Northeast Cobb:
RaceTrace has received a continuance for a rezoning request for a gas station and convenience store at that northwest intersection of Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway.
The request to rezone the 2.009 acres at 2595 Bells Ferry Road and across from Bells Ferry Elementary School was to have had its first hearing Tuesday before the Cobb Planning Commission.
But Cobb Zoning Division Manager John Pederson announced without comment at the start of the meeting that the case was being continued to September.
According to the filings (you can read them here), RaceTrac will be asking for the land to be rezoned to Neighborhood Activity Center (NAC). The fuel station and convenience store would be open 24/7, according to the filings.
RaceTrac also is seeking variances to waive the rear setback from 30 feet to eight feet and to increase the maximum amount of impervious surface from 70 to 74 feet.
The McAfee House, which dates to the 1840s, was the headquarters for Union Gen. Kenner Garrard, whose cavalry troops guarded the Noonday Creek valley after Northern troops seized Big Shanty in June 1864, in the run-up to the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.
Earlier this year the house was relocated by preservationists to Cherokee County. In 2023, a car wash was proposed for the land, owned by the Medford Family LP, and the Cobb Planning Commission recommended approval. But the request was withdrawn by the applicant due to what it said were other business obligations.
Another Northeast Cobb case that was to have beem heard Tuesday also has been continued to September.
It’s a request by Little Sunshine’s Playhouse to rezone two acres at Sandy Plains Road and Trickum Road for a 12,330-square-foot day care center (you can read the filings here).
The two land parcels fronting Sandy Plains Road are residentially zoned and have older homes on them, and are surrounded by other residential properties.
It’s also across the corner from a CVS store and near a preschool on Trickum Road. Parks Huff, the applicant’s attorney, asked for the continuance in a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office last week until September.
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We mentioned a few weeks ago that the main entrance/exit at Avenue East Cobb was undergoing a makeover, and here’s a glimpse of what you’ll see when y0u come and go.
That view is from Chico’s and toward the traffic light at Roswell Road. The same traffic flow pattern is in effect, and the installation of the white tiling, we were told then, was to “create a smoother, more beautiful arrival experience.”
As for a couple of upcoming restaurants at Avenue we’ve been reporting on since last fall, there’s no new information on when they may be opening. Renovations are continuing at Tenku Sushi Elevation in one of the new “jewel box” buildings (the other is Press Waffle Co.) and Luga, an Italian concept by Ben and Seth Gjuka, brothers who opened Giulia, an Italian bakery, in Peachtree Corners last April.
Their second location will operate adjacent to Luga and will serve pastries, croissants, sandwiches and a variety of coffee drinks.
Luga had been planning a spring-summer opening, and when we went by over the weekend, there was a sign in front of Luga from Cobb County about an application for an alcohol license. East Cobb News has reached out to Luga for more information.
NCBA announces expo
The Northeast Cobb Business Association announced Monday that it’s holding a business expo on Oct. 9 from 5-7:30 p.m. at Piedmont Church (590 Piedmont Road).
It’s a chance for local businesses to market themselves to the community. Exhibitors tables cost $50 for NCBA members and $100 for non-members, and include a table, social media promotion, and more.
The event includes sponsorships by the Small Business Development Center at KSU, Cobb County Economic Development and the Cobb ranch of Work Source Georgia.
For more information and to reserve a table, click here.
The NCBA women’s networking event is Aug. 12 at Marlow’s Tavern at Shallowford Sandy Plains, and the main luncheon is Aug. 20, also at Piedmont Church.
The East Cobb Business Association has announced its slate of events for August.
The main luncheon on Aug. 19 at WellStar Healthpark includes featured speaker Jeremy Johnson, whose remarks are entitled “Stand Out without Selling Out.”
ECBA’s Toastmaster events are Aug. 6 and 20 at the Rich Hart Global Studios off Powers Ferry Road, and every Friday morning the ECBA hosts an East Cobb Open Networking session at IHOP on Johnson Ferry Road.
On Aug. 21 the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual East Cobb Pigskin Preview, featuring the head coaches of six high school football teams.
The breakfast meeting is held at the Indian Hills Country Club, and registration and refunds will close on Aug. 15. Click here to sign up.
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The Cobb Youth Leadership (CYL), a development program sponsored by the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta that focuses on developing leadership skills through interactive participation, has announced the members of its 2025-2026 class.
They include a number of students from high schools in East Cobb.
Here’s more about CYL from the Chamber:
“Created in 1989, the program provides students a unique opportunity to learn about their community as well as meet and interact with students from other high schools. Students attending public or private high schools or home-school students in Cobb County must complete and submit an application for CYL in the spring of their sophomore year. Students participate in the program during their junior year of high school.”
The Presenting Sponsor is Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and other sponsors include Six Flags Over Georgia, Walton Communities, and Kennesaw State University.
Johnson Ferry Christian Academy: Abby West
Lassiter High School: Julia Curtis
Mt. Bethel Christian Academy: Asher Adams
Pope High School: Abby Harsch
Sprayberry High School: Mary McGee
Walton High School: Gabi Angryk, Aashray Arun, Safah Patel, Young Kirkland, Jordyn Rubin, Emerson Webb
Wheeler High School: Takara Cannon, Jolie Charles, Raleigh Rhoden
According to the Chamber, orientation for the 60-member class begins on Aug. 11, with a fall retreat in September and several program evenings scheduled until graduation next April.
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!
A new school year in Cobb County is underway, as our young people return to classes to learn valuable skills as well as important life lessons.
We’ve been hearing a lot about some old-school practices that are coming back to our schools, including the mandatory teaching of cursive handwriting in grade school.
As someone who was taught the rigorous methods of penmanship in the pre-digital world—and right here in Cobb—I heartily applaud that move!
Good habits start young, and as the fall is around the corner, many of our routines will revert back to what they were before the summer.
We hope you’ve enjoyed these last couple months, and know many of you have been taking vacation, going out of town, visiting with friends and family and relaxing.
At East Cobb News, we’ve been busy all summer, giving you local news and community connection you can’t get anywhere else. As you ease back into your old habits, consider what this news resource means to you.
Like a school child’s backpack with pens, paper and other supplies, we think that a community checklist for East Cobb citizens in the know includes regularly checking in with East Cobb News.
We know many of you do, from your regular visits to our site and social media channels, as well as our weekly newsletter.
We’re asking readers to provide financial support so we can do even more of what we love to do the best—give you the local news that you love!
We publish news stories on our site six days a week, Monday-Saturday, and on Sunday we bring you our weekly newsletter and major breaking news.
While we do take some time off when we can, we remain fully committed to providing you with original reporting and useful community information as it happens.
Even though we’ve been around for eight years now, East Cobb News still operates with a scrappy spirit. We’re not corporate-owned and we’re truly independent in how we do everything.
No matter the time of year, East Cobb News is here for you every single day. We mean that—it’s not hyperbole.
Why? Because it matters. Local news matters to you, or you wouldn’t be reading this now, following us on our social media channels or subscribing to the newsletter.
Does it matter to you enough to provide a modest amount of financial support? We hope you’ll say yes today.
Your donation of $6, $12, or even $25 a month helps us to tell countless stories—keeping you informed about what’s happening in East Cobb. And your contribution delivers the news to readers everywhere—via e-mail, social media, and of course, at eastcobbnews.com.
When you support East Cobb News, you ensure stories don’t slip through the cracks. Every story we tell matters, regardless of the subject.
We do it without ginning up stories to get you to click, or to stoke your outrage for no good reason.
Please don’t take that for granted!
When you give to East Cobb News, you ensure quality coverage with a local focus that is free and accessible to all.
Nobody else is doing this in our community, and our plans are to keep giving you the local news that you love for a long time to come.
Let us know what you think about all of this: e-mail me: wendy@eastcobbnews.com. I’d like to hear from you.
Thank you for your support of East Cobb News!
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According to his obituary, Chitwood was a graduate of Lassiter High School and had recently begun a company breeding Koi fish.
Chitwood’s survivors include his wife and two children.
A celebration of life service is scheduled for Saturday at Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell: “All are welcome, to honor Cody, Hawaiian attire suggested.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Cobb Police said Monday that a man was killed and another was injured over the weekend in a single-vehicle crash on Blackwell Road in Northeast Cobb.
Officer Aaron Wilson said that Cody Chitwood, 29, of Marietta, was driving a 2023 Subaru WRX around 2:47 a.m. Saturday, heading eastbound on Blackwell Road near Autumn Ridge Drive, when the car left the road for unknown reasons.
Wilson said the Subaru veered into a vegetated embankment and smashed through a wooden fenced before coming to a stop between two trees.
Police said Chitwood was pronounced dead on the scene and a passenger in the Subaru, Travis Goode, 29, of Willacoochee, sustained minor injuries.
Wilson said the crash remains under investigation and that anyone with information is asked to call Cobb Police at at 770-499-3987.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The National Weather Service has extended the advisory, including Cobb County, until 8 p.m. Tuesday, as “1 to 4 inch totals with isolated totals up to 5 inches have already been observed within the watch area since Saturday.
“Additional rainfall of 1 to 3 inches with isolated higher amounts up to 6 inches remain possible through Tuesday
evening.”
ORIGINAL REPORT:
Cobb County is in a flood watch through Monday night.
The Natioal Weather Service in Peachtree City issued the watch for most of Georgia this morning through 8 p.,m. on Monday, as a major thunderstorm system is moving through the Deep South.
Rainfall amounts of between 1-3 inches are expected Sunday and Monday, and higher amounts of up to 5 inches could lead to flash flooding through Monday morning.
Flooding could occur in low-lying areas, especially near rivers, streams and creeks and in areas with drainage areas.
There’s a 50 percent chance of rain today in the Cobb area, mostly until the mid-afternoon. High temperatures are expected in the mid 70s, with lows in the low 60s.
The rain will taper off Sunday night into Monday morning, the first day of school in Cobb County, with a 40 percent chance of rain, mostly after 2 p.m. Highs also will be in the mid 70s during the day, and the rain is expected to pick up Monday night into Tuesday.
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The Cobb County School District’s 2025-26 academic year begins on Monday, serving more than 105,000 students across the county.
Teachers returned to their classes for final preparations, and school buses were making their practice runs in the last week as Georgia’s second-largest school district revs back into action after a two-month summer break.
There will be more traffic on the roads in the early morning rush hour and after mid-afternoon school release times.
Cobb DOT posted a social media message this week reminding motorists about new state laws pertaining to penalties for illegally passing stopped school buses.
A law went into effect July 1 making such an offense an aggravated misdemeanor, with offenders facing a $1,000 fine, up to 12 months in jail or both.
“If the violation is recorded by cameras mounted on school buses, it results in a civil fine starting at $1,000,” according to the Cobb DOT.
School bus traffic and student pedestrian safety issues to keep in mind:
Yellow flashing lights mean the school bus is slowing down and about to stop.
Red flashing lights and the extended stop arm mean children are boarding or exiting the bus. Motorists must come to a complete stop a safe distance from the bus. They must wait until the red lights stop flashing, the stop arm is retracted, and the bus starts moving again.
Children along the road might dart into traffic without looking. Motorists are responsible for driving slowly, yielding to crossing children and coming to a complete stop to protect children on the road.
Please drive slowly in your neighborhoods as school buses conduct pick-ups and drop-offs in subdivisions too.
Remember to use your headlights if it is dark outside to ensure visibility of pedestrians.
The Cobb school district’s transportation page includes links to finding bus routes, using its bus mobile app and following bus safety tips.
The distict’s Cobb Shield page includes school safety information, including links on the alert tip line, emergency management procedures and the district’ police officers.
Parents, teachers and students actively communicate via the district’s CTLS online portal about academic progress, student outcomes, assessments and learning resources.
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!
East Marietta Girls Basketball is now accepting registrations for the upcoming 2025–2026 season. Open to girls in grades 3 through 12, this inclusive and community-driven program ensures that every girl who attends evaluations will be placed on a team—no cuts, no experience required.
The registration window is open now through October 10, 2025. Families are encouraged to sign up early to secure a spot and get details on evaluation dates.
“We are proud to offer a positive, confidence-building environment where every girl can play, learn, and grow through the game of basketball,” said a spokesperson from East Marietta Basketball. “Whether you’re new to the sport or a returning player, there’s a place for you here.”
In addition to player registration, volunteer coaches are needed to help lead teams and support the development of young athletes. Parents, guardians, and community members with a passion for mentorship and teamwork are encouraged to sign up.
East Marietta Basketball is a nonprofit youth sports organization, run 100% by volunteers,dedicated to providing a fun, inclusive, and developmental basketball experience for girls and boys across Cobb County and the surrounding area.
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The Walton High School football program will hold its annual Raiders Day football jamboree Saturday at Raider Valley.
The gates open at 8 a.m., followed by meeting with the varsity team and members of the Junior Raiders teams, along with a field goal challenge.
At 9 a.m., the 2025 teams will be introduced, with varsity vs. varsity and JV vs. 9th grade scrimmages.
At 10 a.m. is the Junior Raider Handshake followed by a variety of community activities.
Pre-season practice is just getting underway as a new school year begins. Walton
Walton’s football season once again starts off with an appearance in the Corky Kell Classic at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
On Aug. 16, the Raiders will play Cobb rival McEachern at 4 p.m. Walton’s home opener is Aug. 29 vs. Roswell.
The Walton Touchdown Club also will be having a fundraiser, the Raider Rhinestone Rodeo Bash, on Aug. 23 at Olde Towne Athletic Club.
There will be drinks, dinner, dancing raffle prizes and auction items, with proceeds to benefitting the club’s efforts to provide financial support, upgrade facilities and conduct game-day operations,
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From L-R: Pope HS principal Matthew Bradford; Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale; Amanda Dillard; Cobb school board member John Cristadoro. Cobb County School District photos and video.
As teachers returned to their classrooms Monday to get ready for another academic year, three of them were in for a big surprise.
The first day back also coincides with the Cobb County School District’s announcement of grade-level 2025 Teacher of the Year honors, and one of them works at a school in East Cobb.
Amanda Dillard of Pope High School, a special education teacher, was named the district’s High School Teacher of the Year during an assembly visited by Superintendent Chris Ragsdale, who made the announcement.
“Every day when I come into work, I hope that I can make a difference in at least one student’s life,” Dillard said in a district release, describing her daily perspective. “Each day, I hope I can connect one-on-one with at least one student to make their day better. I bring a lot of positive energy and positive vibes to our environment here. I try to bring the fun!”
She said she enjoys the family atmosphere at Pope and that “I feel very supported in my work. I don’t think there’s anywhere else that supports their employees the way Cobb does.”
Dillard, who also is Pope’s e-sports coach, is among the hundreds of Cobb teachers in the Georgia’s BEST program, which provides Cobb teachers with free graduate degree programs through the State University of West Georgia.
She will be a finalist for the 2025 Cobb Teacher of the Year, which will be announced this fall. The other candidates are Caleb Garrett of Compton Elementary School and Lakeisha Grange, a math teacher at Betty Gray Middle School.
Teachers are selected by their colleagues as their individual school’s teacher of the year, before being considered for grade-level recognition.
“The Teachers of the Year are the ‘superstars,’ but it takes the entire team to make our District successful,” Ragsdale said. “It is always so great to see all the other teachers at a school gather around and support the winner. You get to really see the team approach.”
The first day of the 2025-26 school year is Monday.
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A Cobb grand jury has indicted Cobb Superior Court Clerk Connie Taylor following an investigation into her alleged conduct over the handling of passport fees processed by her office.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a release Thursday that Taylor has been charged with two counts of destroying government records and two counts of violating her oath of office—all felony counts.
The indictment by a Cobb grand jury comes after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation conducted a probe into the matter following allegations that Taylor tried to direct an employee to delete government e-mails and financial records in response to an open records request in late 2022.
Taylor had come under fire for personally pocketing $425,000 in passport fees, on top of her $170,000 annual salary.
Under state law, court clerks are allowed to personally keep such funds. But Rebecca Keaton, Taylor’s predecessor, forwarded some of those monies to the county’s general fund.
The Cobb Superior Court Clerk is an elected constitutional officer, one of four in the county.
Maya Curry, who worked in the clerk’s office, said Taylor ordered her to destroy records about the passport application fees when The Atlanta Journal-Constitution filed an open records request seeking that information.
Curry’s allegations (you can read her attorney’s letter here) include a comment by Taylor that “we’re just going to Donald Trump this thing,” a reference to deleting any files or records that would be germane to an open records request.
Carr’s office went to a Cobb grand jury with the GBI’s findings after the Cobb District Attorney’s Office recused itself. Cobb judges also recused themselves, and a retired Douglas County judge presided over the grand jury’s presentment in Cobb Superior Court.
“Georgians deserve honesty and transparency from their elected officials, and anything less undermines public trust,” Carr said in a statement. “Any attempts to conceal or destroy government records are serious allegations that cannot be ignored, and those responsible will be held accountable.”
Taylor has hired former Gov. Roy Barnes to represent her, and he has declined comment.
Taylor is a Democrat who was first elected in 2020, ousting Keaton from office. Even after the passport issue became public, and a judicial emergency was declared over her implementation of a new court online filing system, Taylor easily won re-election in 2024.
She beat a crowded field in the Democratic primary and then prevailed over Republican Deborah Dance, a former Cobb County Attorney, in the general election.
After Taylor’s indictment Thursday, Cobb District Attorney Sonya Allen issued a statement, saying that “we recognize the significance and understand the public’s concern, however we are not involved in this prosecution. Our office remains focused on fulfilling our responsibilities and serving the people of Cobb County with integrity and impartiality.”
She referred further inquiries to the Attorney General’s Office.
Cobb government issued the following statement:
“We respect the judicial process and will allow it to run its course. Regardless of the outcome, Cobb County is committed to ensuring residents continue to receive efficient and effective services through the Clerk of Superior Court’s office.”
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If you haven’t checked out our revamped calendar listings, please check them out now! We’d love to share your events with the community too—see the instructions at the bottom of this post.
This weekend the key activities include Sprayberr High School’s Black vs. Gold football scrimmage, the first three of six presentations of “Black Comedy” by CenterStage North at The Art Place, and the 11th running of the Lutzie 43 Road Race.
That takes place Saturday morning at Lassiter High School (2601 Shallowford Road), and is run in the memory of former Trojan and Auburn University football standout Philip Lutzenkirchen.
After he was killed in a car crash in 2014, his family set up a foundation to inspire people to make better decisions as drivers and friends, using Philip’s life and legacy to inspire change.”
The Lutzie 43 Foundation exists to reduce the number of distracted, impaired and unsafe driving incidents, ultimately diminishing the number of deaths caused by poor decisions behind the wheel.
The event, which features a 5K race around the school grounds, steps off from Frank Fillman Stadium with a short kids’ run.
The cost is $30-$43 and you can register onsite or at this link. All proceeds benefit the Lutzie 43 Foundation.
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If your organization or entity is holding an event that’s open to the public, please send East Cobb News your information and we’ll be glad to post it!
This can include festivals, pumpkin patches, Thanksgiving activities, holiday concerts, Christmas tree and Menorah lightings, New Year’s celebrations and fundraisers.
Pass along your details 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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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!
A sign at a “No Kings” rally in East Cobb is raised for motorists along Roswell Road in June. ECN file photo.
Progressive groups who have been involved in two previous public rallies in East Cobb against the policies of the Trump Administration have scheduled another one for Saturday.
What’s being called a “Rage Against the Regime” protest will take place at the intersection of Roswell and Johnson Ferry roads—the same venue as the previous events—from 12-1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The protest is being organized by Indivisible Cobb, a liberal advocacy group, in conjunction with the 50501 Movement, in a nationwide effort across more than 300 communities.
In a press release, 50501 calls Saturday’s event as “a mass mobilization to channel our collective rage against the Trump administration for its weaponization of ICE against our communities, construction of concentration camps, covering up the Epstein files, attacks on transgender rights, and its dismantling of Medicaid, SNAP, USAID, the Department of Education, NOAA, and the National Weather Service into collective action.”
Indivisible Cobb leader Stacey Parlotto said that “If you are not outraged by Trump’s reign of terror, you are not paying attention to the alarming erosion of democratic norms, attacks on truth, and the marginalization of vulnerable communities. Trump’s actions have normalized extremism, incited violence, and undermined institutions meant to protect civil rights and social justice. Now, how about releasing those Epstein files?”
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!
Tom Cousins, the influential Atlanta real estate mogul and philanthropist who developed the Indian Hills subdivision in East Cobb, has died.
Cousins died Tuesday at the age of 93, and left a major imprint on residential and commercial development in the Atlanta area.
Indian Hills, which opened in the early 1970s as a planned, staged development with golf courses and a country club, is considered the key development in the transformation of East Cobb.
Cousins also helped bring professional sports to Atlanta in the late 1960s as the ower of the Atlanta Hawks basketball team and the Atlanta Flames, a hockey franchise.
Along with architect John Portman, Cousins during his career included developing many of the landmark buildings of the Atlanta skyline, including CNN Center and the Omni sports arena, as well as the 191 Peachtree Tower.
In addition to redeveloping the famed East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Cousins turned his eyes in the late 1960s to a new kind of development in the Atlanta suburbs.
Until then, most of Cousins’ residential development had been in the Augusta area, where he built prefabricated homes, and was the largest homebuilder in the state of Georgia according to a history of Indian Hills.
He came to Atlanta seeking more opportunities, initially building apartment complexes.
Cousins set his sights on building out roughly 1,000 acres of farmland several miles east of the city of Marietta between Lower Roswell Road and what was then called Upper Roswell Road (now just Roswell Road).
Linking those two roads was Gray Road, which traversed hills that dropped down to Bishop Creek. That became the heart of a planned community with homes and golf courses, the first such development of its kind that far out from the city of Atlanta.
As the development progressed, other changes came about. Gray Road was renamed Indian Hills Parkway. Lots were laid out and sold for as little as $7,000 (in late 1960s money).
But an economic downturn cast doubt on the Indian Hills project, and Cousins had to be talked into finishing the work, according to the Indian Hills history (you can read it at this link).
Lot sizes were reduced and size of the golf clubhouse was also cut down to raise the funding to build out Indian Hills, which was regarded as a very experimental project.
Hal Adams, who worked with Cousins and bought a home in Indian Hills, said in the Indian Hills history that sales were slow at first, but school busing plans in the city of Atlanta resulted in many residents moving to Cobb County.
(Cobb schools began desegregation in the late 1960s, but without a busing program.)
Cousins also had to build a temporary sewage treatment facility at Indian Hills to accommodate the development until Cobb could construct its sewer lines to the East Cobb area.
For the final phase of Indian Hills in the early 1970s, Cousins purchased 3oo more acres of land, built out 350 residential units—including condominiums—as well as a third nine-hole golf course.
By the mid 1970s, growth in East Cobb was exploding, with the opening of Walton High School and other schools in the Johnson Ferry corridor.
Cherie Poss Chandler, who grew up on a farm on Lower Roswell Road at Woodlawn Drive, said the opening of Indian Hills changed everything about the community.
“That’s when it went from being Mt. Bethel to East Cobb,” Chandler said a 2018 interview with East Cobb News.
She said that while she and her siblings still had farm chores to do before going to school—their cows sometimes wandered onto the Indian Hills golf course—their new schoolmates had very different backgrounds.
To promote Indian Hills, Cousins and his team also built tennis courts and swimming pools. The golf course was showcased as the venue for a stop on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour.
The development was sold in 1978 to Futren Hospitality, a private club management that continues to operate Indian Hills today.
Today Indian Hills has more than 1,680 homes on around 2,000 acres. Many of the small, single-story ranch homes that Cousins built are being torn down for mega-mansions selling for well above $1 million.
You can read more about how Indian Hills came to be at this link. The information was compiled by a special committee created in 2008 to collect documents and conduct interviews with residents and key players in the creation of Indian Hills.
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!
