Cobb County is under a flood watch until 7 p.m. Thursday and parts of the county and metro Atlanta area are under a flood warning as heavy rains and thunderstorms swept through north Georgia overnight.
The rain is expected to continue through New Year’s Day with warm temperatures.
The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of South Cobb, especially the area around Nickajack Creek, until further notice.
But conditions for flash flooding exist elsewhere in the county, especially in low-lying areas and around creeks, streams and rivers.
Areas in the flood watch may be subject to excessive water runoff, and creeks and streams may rise out of their banks. Flooding also can occur where there’s poor drainage, especially where it’s blocked by pine straw and other debris.
The NWS said that by 10:30 a.m. Thursday, storms had produced between 1.5 and 3.5 inches of rain, and another half-inch to an inch could fall by Thursday night.
Flash flooding has been occurring in some areas, including creeks in southern Paulding County. The NWS alerts include high winds along with the storms.
Areas expected to experience flooding include Atlanta, Douglasville, Carrollton, Decatur, Buchanan, Sandy Springs, Smyrna, East Point, Villa Rica, College Park, Powder Springs, Chamblee, Doraville, Clarkston, Austell, Hapeville, Bremen, Stone Mountain, Temple and Hiram.
The NWS alerts are urging drivers to turn around when encountering flooded roads and for motorists not to attempt to drive through the water.
They also are asked to alert local law enforcement and emergency crews if they see flooding.
For Thursday, the rain is forecast to taper off to 30 percent by the evening hours and all day Friday.
On New Year’s Day, the chance of rain is expected to be 50 percent, and 90 percent on Sunday.
High temperatures will range from the mid 60s to the low 70s.
Sunshine will return for the first full week of 2022, but the weather will be getting colder.
Monday’s high is expected to be in the mid-40s, with Tuesday’s high reaching 50.
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Long lines formed in December 2021 at a COVID testing spot at East Cobb United Methodist Church.
The year 2021 is ending in similar fashion to how it began: With a surge in COVID-19 cases that prompted calls for precautions, testing, vaccination and masking.
The Omicron variant that was sweeping through the United States as the Christmas holiday season approached was the third wave of the virus to take a toll on Cobb and elsewhere this year.
Long lines formed at testing locations, including East Cobb United Methodist Church, after Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid declared a COVID emergency for the fourth time in 2021.
That was on Dec. 22, when the case rates had jumped by more than 150 percent in a week. County buildings are also under an indoor mask mandate until Jan. 22, 2022.
Currently, the transmission rate of the virus in Cobb averaged 805 per 100,000 people, far above the “high” threshold of 100 per 100K.
Indeed, more than 1,000 cases in Cobb were reported each on Dec. 28 and Dec. 29, well above the highest reported date during the January 2021 surge.
Wednesday’s 1,865 reported cases is the highest single-day total in the county since the pandemic began in March 2020, and comes as county officials are advising more precautions through the holidays.
Cobb COVID-19 cases are on a surge for the third time in 2021. For more data from the Georgia Department of Health, click here.
Cobb and Douglas Public Health director Dr. Janet Memark is urging the public to limit indoor gatherings or to wear masks when they cannot avoid large crowds inside (see video interview with Cupid below, taped at the beginning of this week).
She also noted that only 58 percent of eligible adults and children in Cobb are considered “fully vaccinated,” and fewer than 20 percent have received booster shots.
Due to long testing lines she said that anyone who feels sick or has COVID-19 symptoms should skip that step, presume they have the virus and begin an isolation period.
As the 2021-22 school year began, the Cobb County School District announced a masks-optional policy that prompted protests on both sides of the issue.
Parents, teachers, staff and others gathered at the district’s main office before school meetings to either demand a mask mandate that was in place the previous school year, or to keep them relaxed.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale came under fire from the Cobb Board of Health as an early fall surge due to the Delta variant prompted demands for a mask mandate.
A special board meeting in September urged “universal masking” in schools following CDC guidance. Ragsdale, a member of the board, abstained, but the decision carried no mandates.
Cobb schools have remained masks-optional, and four parents of medically fragile children filed a federal lawsuit against the district. In October, their request for a temporary injunction to force the district to follow CDC guidelines was denied.
At the same time, Cobb school board member David Banks sent an e-mail on his official account discouraging recipients from getting the COVID-19 vaccines. Banks never publicly responded to requests for comment, but he’s been criticized previously for explaining that he doesn’t wear masks because he thinks they don’t work.
Cobb County government COVID responses weren’t fraught with that kind of drama.
During three previous emergency declarations, Cobb government required mask use in indoor buildings and socially distanced at public meetings.
In December 2021 Cobb commissioners allocated the last of the county’s $133 million in funding from the federal CARES Act, spending most of the final monies to assist small business and to pay for protective equipment and other items for first responders.
The county used some previous funding to open a vaccine call center for several months. For several months Jim Miller Park served as mass vaccination center; Cobb and Douglas Public Health continues to provide free vaccinations at its main clinics.
The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines in Cobb stumbled a bit in January, as a website created to book appointments and provide basic information crashed upon launch, leaving anxious seniors and medically fragile candidates for the shots frustrated, especially as the initial supplies of vaccines ran out.
As of Dec. 29, 435,286 Cobb County residents were fully vaccinated, 475,777 have had at least one dose and 147,491 have received boosters.
Since March 2020, there have been 97,398 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Cobb County, and 1,346 confirmed deaths.
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The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Dec. 27 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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Submitted information by the Cobb County Public Library System:
Children will celebrate the start of 2022 early with kid-friendly special events on Thursday at Cobb County libraries.
The “Noon Year’s Eve Eve” party at Mountain View Regional Library, 3320 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta, starts at 11:30 am December 30. The event is for children age 10 and younger with a participating adult. Registration is required. For more information, visit cobbcat.org or call 770-509-2725.
“Vinings Noon Year’s Eve” at Vinings Library, 4290 Paces Ferry Road, begins at 11 am Thursday. For information, call the library’s Children’s Department at 770-801-5308.
Cobb County Public Libraries will be closed Friday, December 31 and Saturday, January 1, 2022 in honor of New Year’s Day. Normal hours will resume on Monday, January 3, 2022. CCPL digital resources are available every day of the year. Visit the Research and Digital page to find eBooks, eAudiobooks, digital magazines, comics, newspapers, streaming video and hundreds of other databases and resources covering dozens of topics.
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After years of pleading, prodding and practically begging, residents in the vicinity of the downtrodden Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center finally got their wish in 2021.
But the redevelopment plans of Atlantic Realty, an Atlanta luxury apartment builder that first filed its rezoning request in the summer of 2020, will look very different from what was originally intended.
Even after the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning in June—with some vocal opposition from other residents—there was yet another twist in what the mixed-use project will look like.
As commissioners were signing off on a project with 132 senior apartments and 102 townhomes and a small amount of retail space, the developer was trying to work out a traffic arrangement with a liquor store owner whose business is located at what would be the new development’s main entrance on Sandy Plains Road.
That project also was to have included a 34,000-square-foot grocery store to be occupied by Lidl. But Atlantic Realty’s discussions with the Sprayberry Bottle Shop fell through, and Lidl is no longer involved in the development.
Other retail space and restaurants are tentatively being planned instead.
Before passage, Atlantic Realty dropped plans for a general apartment building that drew most of the opposition, with those against fearing a single-family area would change the nature of their neighborhoods.
A once-vibrant shopping center that has evolved into a longstanding community eyesore is expected to be demolished in early 2022.
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Luke O’Malley was featured at the Falcons-Lions game on Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
For Lassiter High School student Luke O’Malley, Sunday’s Atlanta Falcons home game against the Detroit Lions wasn’t just a Christmas holiday treat.
The junior football player was a featured part of gameday presentations at Mercedes Benz Stadium that included a video highlight reel and an introduction by Falcons cheerleaders.
Luke O’Malley is a wide receiver and linebacker for the Trojans.
O’Malley is a finalist for the Falcons High School Man of the Year Award, which recognizes prep athletes who “make a positive difference on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”
In addition to playing varsity football, Luke also plays baseball and swims for the Trojans. He also sports a 4.0 grade-point average and is involved in other school and community projects.
“Being chosen to represent my team by my awesome Head Coach, Coach Thom, was an extreme honor!” he said. “Being named a finalist for this prestigious award leaves me excited, honored and humbled. I hope to continue to make a positive difference and example for my school, athletic teams, community and country. My ultimate goal is to have the honor and the incredible opportunity to serve my country like my parents, sister and brother-in-law.”
Luke’s older sisters also were star scholar-athletes at Lassiter. Shannon was part of four-time state champion swimming teams at Lassiter and was a standout swimmer at the University of Georgia.
Lauren O’Malley also swam for Lassiter and competed at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Luke O’Malley will be honored again at the Falcons-Saints game on Jan. 9 and at the Falcons’ post-season team banquet.
Introduced to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd by Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders.
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An East Cobb man was arrested Sunday and charged with causing a serious motorcycle crash in Acworth that sent another man to the hospital.
Cobb Police said William English Akin, 55, of Mystic Court in northeast Cobb, was booked into the Cobb County Adult Detention Center Sunday on charges of DUI, failure to yield, and causing a serious injury by vehicle.
The latter is a felony charge, and Cobb Sheriff’s Office records indicate Akin was released on a $5,000 bond early Monday morning.
According to Cobb Police spokesman Sgt. Wayne Delk, a black 2001 Harley-Davidson XL1200C motorcycle was heading southbound on Cherokee Street in a right turn lane to westbound Lake Acworth Drive at 6:16 p.m. Sunday.
Police said that a brown 2017 GMC Sierra leaving a Racetrac gas station then veered into the path of the motorcycle, whose driver applied the brakes to avoid a collision.
But police said the Harley-Davidson overturned and the driver was ejected from the bike.
Delk said the motorcyclist, John Lloyd, 47, of Acworth, was taken to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital with serious injuries.
Police said an investigation into the crash continues and that anyone with information is asked to call 770-499-3987.
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Residents opposed to the East Cobb Church rezoning application objected to high-density residences.
The cornerstone of a proposed mixed-use project at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection was the least controversial component of a rezoning saga that took nearly a year to unfold.
While the proposed new home of East Cobb Church wasn’t an issue, residents living near the 33-acre assemblage said the residential portion of the application was too dense and would cause traffic and other quality-of-life concerns.
Cobb commissioners voted 3-1 in October to approve the rezoning, after months of delays and revisions that left residents reeling.
The final revision that was improved will allow for 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes to be built near two single-family subdivisions whose primary access point, Waterfront Drive, is located in the heart of the newly approved residential area.
North Point Ministries, which operates several other megachurches in metro Atlanta, has plans to buy all of the 24 parcels that make up the 33 acres. The current owners of the properties, retired prominent attorney William Hanna and his wife’s ministry, have insisted on selling the land to a single buyer.
North Point has plans to sell 20 acres to Ashwood Atlanta, which will develop the homes.
What especially bothered some residents was a last-minute site plan unveiled at the commission meeting in October, without much time for zoning staff or public review.
“It is clear we need to vote in favor in the 2022 midterms [a] Cityhood vote to protect East Cobb’s interests and ensure we have a zoning board that listens to its taxpayers,” Rachel Bruce said after the vote.
(The properties involved in the East Cobb Church case are all included in the proposed City of East Cobb that will be considered in the 2022 legislative session.)
Other issues include stormwater concerns. What was once known as Maddox Lake has been dredged for several years, and federal officials must determine if that part of the land can be developed.
If it’s declared to be in a flood plain, North Point attorney Kevin Moore said the residential developer would reduce the number of units accordingly.
In her motion to approve the application, commissioner Jerica Richardson—in her first major rezoning case in the East Cobb part of her District 2—included provisions to cap the density at five units an acre.
East Cobb Church, which has been holding services at Eastside Baptist Church, has been promoting its campaign for a worship facility as part of the “Revitalize JOSH campaign.”
A year after commissioners approved the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan, an underdeveloped corner of that intersection will be revived by a project that wasn’t contemplated during the lengthy master plan process.
For East Cobb Church, coming home means a commitment to its new community.
“We’ve been dreaming of a home, not just to go but, but to launch from, into the community, on a mission to love, where we live,” Pastor Jamey Dickens said in a church-produced video after the rezoning vote.
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For a larger view of the proposed City of East Cobb boundaries, click here.
A second attempt to pass legislation for East Cobb Cityhood was unveiled in early 2021, just a few months after it appeared to be a dead issue.
A local legislator who wouldn’t sign on to a cityhood bill in 2019 said just that, but in March became a co-sponsor of legislation to be considered by the Georgia General Assemby in 2022.
State Rep. Sharon Cooper joined efforts with fellow East Cobb Republican lawmaker Matt Dollar to revive the idea of cityhood.
The proposed boundaries and services are different from the 2019 campaign, which was abandoned by cityhood leaders after substantial opposition surfaced.
Local elected officials also were lukewarm to the proposed City of East Cobb, which would have included more than 100,000 people.
(See our complete archive of past cityhood stories by clicking here.)
Some new faces to the cityhood committee prompted changes in the legislation by Dollar (who won’t be seeking re-election in 2022 after being drawn into the same district with Cooper).
The Johnson Ferry Road corridor runs along the middle of the proposed city boundaries , with a population of around 55,000.
Initially, the proposed services were planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation.
The cityhood group held virtual town halls and met individually with some civic and business groups as a financial feasibility study was conducted.
That study, released in November, included police and fire services that had were in the 2019 campaign.
Cityhood leaders said there was strong support for public safety services based on feedback in polling, and the study concluded that the city would have an annual surplus of $3 million annually.
A proposed city hall would be located at the East Cobb Government Service Center, which would be purchased from Cobb County, and where the Precinct 4 police station and a Cobb Fire station are located.
Like three other cityhood bills in Cobb—Lost Mountain, Vinings and Mableton—the East Cobb effort remains centered around development, zoning and density issues in unincorporated Cobb.
The East Cobb bill will still need a state Senate sponsor when it comes up in the legislature in January.
If that bill passes, a referendum would take place in November 2022, giving voters in the proposed city the final say on whether there will be a new municipality.
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“We search for Christmas in what we want, but we really find it in what we need,” said Rev. Ike Reighard of Piedmont Church.
A second Christmas under the scope of COVID-19 was an unavoidable topic in messages delivered by East Cobb ministers to their congregations on Christmas Eve.
But those sermons also expanded the context for familiar themes of inspiration that Christians seek as they celebrate the birth of Jesus, the formative event of the their faith.
“Do you feel like darkness is winning the day?” Mt. Bethel Church senior pastor Jody Ray said, repeating words from the Book of Isaiah about how “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”
“Jesus is the answer,” Ray said. “He is the light and he is the hope for the future.”
After recounting the story of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”—written after a long period of religious retreat in England—Ray admitted that “this past year has been rough,” especially with a continuing pandemic that is surging again with the Omicron variant.
Economic pain, the loss of loved ones, depression and addiction have been magnified as a result, he said.
“There isn’t a place you find yourself where this light can’t find you,” said Rev. Dr. Jody Ray of Mt. Bethel Church.
“We know what darkness feels like, what it looks like,” he said. “We’ve been there.”
Ray called for a revival of the true spirit of the season, setting aside “secular mumbo-jumbo” to “bring back what Christmas is all about.”
At Piedmont Church, Rev. Ike Reighard delivered a similar message, noting how the task of discovering Christ gets lost amid the holiday rush of gift-giving.
“You really find the presence of God in the extraordinary things of the story,” Reighard said.
“We search for Christmas in what we want, but we really find it in what we need.”
He also urged his congregation to follow the admonitions of the angels to the shepherds seeking the Christ child: “Do not be afraid.”
“There’s not been such an upheaval” in American society since World War II, Reighard said in reference to current times, recounting economic and health concerns, as well as those of children whose young lives and educations also have been especially disrupted.
“God’s got you covered,” Reighard said, noting that there are 365 references in the Bible urging people to be unafraid—one for every day of the year.
At Hope Presbyterian Church, Rev. Martin Hawley also drew upon the Book of Isaiah to issue a message of hope and light.
The “King Jesus,” he said, came to earth to take “sin-drenched people like you and me and to fill our hearts with light.”
At the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, Pastor Uijin Hwang drew upon Christ’s birth from the Book of Luke to proclaim that “Jesus Christ broke down the barriers between God and us. He made peace between God and us.
“His death on the cross opened the way for humankind to receive forgiveness and true life without ever being put to death,” he said. “If this is not true peace, what is it?”
The past year also has been a challenging one inside one of East Cobb’s biggest churches.
Ray didn’t reference Mt. Bethel’s months-long dispute with the United Methodist Church that included him turning in his UMC ministerial credentials.
He’s been retained by Mt. Bethel as it seeks to leave the UMC, but the denomination’s North Georgia Conference has filed a lawsuit in Cobb Superior Court.
In his Christmas Eve message to a congregation that claims more than 9,000 members, Ray drove home the promises in Isaiah of the birth of Jesus, exclaiming that “this baby was the message.
“He would come as a light and he would change the world and history. If you will experience that tonight, it will change your life too.”
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The year 2021 started with the election of two new U.S. Senators from Georgia and ended with the passing of a state and Cobb County political icon.
In January, Democrats Jon Ossoff (left) and Raphael Warnock won U.S. Senate runoffs by beating Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
That put the upper chamber of Congress in Democratic hands, forging a 50-50 tie, with new Democratic vice-president and former Sen. Kamala Harris presiding as President of the Senate.
Republican turnout soured after former President Donald Trump claimed voter fraud in Georgia, where Democrat Joe Biden was certified as the winner of the 2020 presidential race by less than 12,000 votes.
Loeffler had served only a year after being appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to succeed Johnny Isakson, the Republican from East Cobb who retired due to health issues.
On Dec. 19, Isakson died at the age of 76, after fighting Parkinson’s Disease diagnosed in 2015, the year before he won his third term in the Senate.
Isakson served a total of 45 years in the Georgia legislature and Congress, and was praised for his commitment to bipartisanship.
His memorial service is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2022, the first anniversary of the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters who were attempting to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results.
Parents pushing for a new main campus building got their wish in November after the Cobb Education SPLOST VI referendum passed easily.
Cobb Education SPLOST VI will begin on Jan. 1, 2024 and will continue through Dec. 31, 2029, raising $894 million for the Cobb school district.
Among the major projects on the list will be a new main classroom building at Sprayberry High School, as well as classroom additions at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb.
Also in November, the Georgia legislature held a special session to conduct Congressional and legislative reapportionment.
Among the major changes made to those lines was redrawing the 6th Congressional District, which includes most of East Cobb.
Since 2019 that seat has been held by Democrat Lucy McBath, but the new lines include part of Forsyth, Dawson and Cherokee counties that likely will create a Republican-held seat.
The new 11th District represented by GOP U.S. Rep. Barry Lowdermilk also will include some of East Cobb.
The new legislative lines will split East Cobb into four State Senate seats and retain five State House seats.
However, incumbent Republican House members Sharon Cooper and Matt Dollar were drawn into the same new District 45.
Dollar, the principal sponsor of East Cobb Cityhood legislation to be considered in 2022, announced he will not be seeking re-election next year.
In January, the Cobb legislative delegation will draw new lines for the four districts of the Cobb Board of Commissioners and all seven posts of the Cobb Board of Education.
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Cobb commissioners honoring Johnny Isakson in Jan. 2020, shortly after his retirement.
A memorial service for former U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson will be held on Jan. 6, his family announced Friday.
Isakson, a Republican from East Cobb who served 45 years in the Georgia legislature and in Congress, died Sunday at the age of 76 after a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
The memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Jan. 6 at Peachtree United Methodist Church (3180 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta).
Those planning to attend are asked to have been vaccinated for COVID-19 and to wear masks.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Isakson Initiative, a non-profit started by Isakson after his retirement to conduct research into and raise awareness for neurocognitive diseases including: Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and related dementia.
Since his passing, many national, state and local officials have paid tribute to Isakson, whose legislative hallmarks were for veterans services and education and a commitment to bipartisanship.
In her weekly newsletter, Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell noted that the Johnson Ferry Road bridge over the Chattahoochee River connecting Cobb with Sandy Springs was named after Isakson in December 2016.
“Sen. Isakson has always been a friend to Cobb County,” Birrell said. “He has been a fine example of a true leader and patriot. We can’t thank him enough for his wisdom, advice and service to the county, state and nation.”
Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson said that “during his time in the political sphere, Isakson worked to reach across party lines and saw people as ‘friends and future friends,’ ” she said.
“Although we may have lost an important public servant, his impact on the lives of Georgians will forever be in our hearts.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid issued a statement saying that “I appreciate his insight, his candor and encouragement of me as a community advocate and later, as a district commissioner. Cobb is fortunate to have a national statesman as one of our own.”
Isakson’s first run for office was a losing campaign for the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 1974.
He was elected to the Georgia House in 1976, then the Georgia Senate in 1992. He was the 6th District Congressman from 1998-2004, and served in the U.S. Senate from 2005 until his retirement due to health reasons at the end of 2019.
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Graffiti scrawled in a boys lavatory at Pope High School in September 2021.
Swastikas and “Heil Hitler” messages were scrawled on the bathroom walls of two high schools in East Cobb in September, prompting an outcry from the local Jewish community, and leading to the passage of a resolution condemning the actions by the Cobb Board of Education.
The messages at Pope and Lassiter high schools were similar, but the responses to them by school officials triggered different reactions in the community.
Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb spoke to Pope students but he and other Jewish leaders said the Cobb school district’s response was inadequate. In a letter to the Pope community, principal Thomas Flugum didn’t specify the anti-Semitic nature of the graffiti.
At Lassiter, principal Chris Richie was specific in a letter that went out to the school community, and further denounced the “deplorable symbols and language.”
Later, the Cobb school district issued a response that didn’t make a reference to anti-Semitism but only to “hate speech” and urged “families to talk to their students about the impacts of inappropriate and dangerous trends circulating on social media.”
The incidents took place apparently as part of a stunt on the Tik Tok social media app in which students vandalize school property and boast about it.
But Jewish leaders said the incidents showed that an educational program teaching about anti-Semitism was needed. The Anti-Defamation League of Atlanta, among others, called for the Cobb school district to reintroduce its “No Place for Hate” materials.
That did not happen, but school board chairman Randy Scamihorn attended a Yom Kippur service at Kol Emeth, and in October he introduced a resolution condemning anti-Semitism and racism.
The resolution passed by a party-line vote after some members and citizens complained that the matter was added to the agenda late, and saying that the district still needed to do more to address acts of hate in the school system.
A student at Pope was brought up on disciplinary charges that the district did not explain; the district did not indicate any similar punishment for the incident at Lassiter.
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The Susko home at 3284 Timberloch Drive, in the Lower Roswell-Old Canton area; for a larger version click here.
Over the weekend we put out an invitation for East Cobbers to share their home holiday decorations, and we’re posting below some of what we’ve received, and will be adding more.
An Atlanta Braves ornament on the Christmas tree of Chuck Vrshek.
Feel free to e-mail us your photos to: editor@eastcobbnews.com; we’ll continue compiling them through New Year’s. JPG, JPEG, PNG files are ideal and they’re best sent as attachments instead of in the body of the e-mail template.
The photos can be indoors or outdoors, daytime or evening, and even your Christmas tree, family members, pets, bad sweaters, etc.
And certainly photos of your Christmas Day celebrations—gift-openings, gatherings, etc., are especially welcome.
Thanks East Cobb, for spreading your holiday cheer with the community!
The Michalove family home, Independence SquareSubmitted by Twitter user @ZeviloneAnd the Susko home by day.
Indian Hills resident Jeff Bullis noticed that many homes on Ridgewater Drive were displaying identical 9-foot Santas, and he counted 35 in all.
He lives on another nearby street, and said he “was so inspired, I drove to a Home Depot in Morrow to buy, literally, the last one in Atlanta.”
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The major changes include creating a “downtown atmosphere” The Avenue East Cobb featuring upscale “chef-driven” dining, a central lawn, more events and a concierge service.
NAP has ramped up the event schedule with regular movie screenings, a Fall Fest and more holiday festivities.
NAP’s objective in managing day-to-day operations of the 230,000-square-foot retail center is “to create a socially magnetic place that pulls people together to hang out and connect with community.”
The Avenue East Cobb opened in 1999 on the site of a former driving range on Roswell Road.
Last year Chain Store Age named The Avenue East Cobb one of its “Top 10 Comeback Centers” after weathering closures due to COVID-19.
Long lines of vehicles backed up traffic on Roswell Road and East Piedmont Road Wednesday for COVID-19 testing at East Cobb United Methodist Church. ECN photo
For the fourth time in recent months, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in the county due to rising COVID-19 cases.
The new order takes effect immediately and will continue through Jan. 22, 2022.
The emergency declaration allows the county to implement an emergency operations plan, hold public meetings virtually and encourage residents to take precautions.
Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris also has reinstated a mask mandate inside county buildings (but not outdoor facilities like parks).
“This is unlike any other surge we’ve ever had before,” Cupid said in a video message after signing the declaration.
On Wednesday, Georgia Department of Public Health data showed a reported 636 new cases in Cobb, the single-highest figure since 966 cases were reported on Jan. 8 during a winter surge.
That’s according to “date of report” figures, many of which lag from previous days and weeks; the “date of onset” category operates on a two-week lag and as of Wednesday the preliminary estimate is 417 cases.
“The stress on our hospitals is increasing, and both public and private COVID testing facilities are overwhelmed,” Cupid said in a statement issued by the county.
“Even though this is just prior to Christmas, I wanted to act quickly to help slow the spread of this new variant in our community.”
Three previous month-long emergencies were declared by Cupid August, September and October, but the oncoming Omicron variant has pushed transmission rates, hospitalizations and other metrics over the last two weeks.
There is not a mandate in Cobb for masks regarding private-run businesses or other non-county entities.
The Cobb mandate also does not affect the Cobb County School District, which has a masks-optional policy and is on a holiday break until Jan. 6.
Cobb courts have been requiring masks under a separate judicial order from the Georgia Supreme Court.
Cobb and Douglas Public Health continues to offer free COVID-19 tests and vaccines. For information and to book appointments, please click here.
Cobb COVID-19 cases are on a surge for the third time in 2021. For more data from the Georgia Department of Health, click here.
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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy wants to built an athletic field (blue star) near homeowners in the Holly Springs subdivision, but residents say the proposal is incomplete.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to hold a request by Mt. Bethel Christian Academy to change its site plan for athletic facilities at its North campus.
The private school’s application for revisions to a special land-use permit will wait to be heard in February, when zoning cases resume in Cobb County.
Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said in making the motion for the delay that the site plan changes weren’t complete, and what had been formally submitted was received only last week.
In addition, nearby residents and the East Cobb Civic Association objected to what was proposed.
“In light of all that, I would rather that we hold this,” said Birrell, and the vote was a unanimous 5-0.
Birrell had previously met with county zoning staff and Mt. Bethel Christian leaders about the changes before the school hired noted Cobb zoning attorney Kevin Moore.
“We asked that they provide a complete site plan,” Birrell said. “I didn’t receive anything until Dec. 15, after 5 p.m.”
Mt. Bethel Christian Academy has operated a high school campus on 33 acres on Post Oak Tritt Road since 2014; the site plan approved with a special land-use permit (SLUP) permitted athletic facilities on the northern side of the property, but any changes must come back before commissioners.
Moore reminded commissioners during Tuesday’s hearing of the approved uses in that SLUP, and reiterated that it also included no field lighting.
The proposed changes would remove a track previously approved around the field, relocate a field house and add 39 parking spaces for a total of 121.
Richard Grome, president of the East Cobb Civic Association, said the Mt. Bethel site plan presented by Moore “is not showing the complete picture.”
He noted that the ECCA met with Moore on Dec. 2, received the new site plan on Dec. 9, and then a new stipulation letter on Dec. 15.
In addition to concerns over the impact of two retaining walls close to homeowners adjacent to the field, the proposals don’t include elevations for the athletic facility.
“They need to know what this raised concrete stadium will look like from their yards,” he said.
Some of those property owners, who live on Alberta Drive in the Holly Springs subdivision, had planned to be in attendance at the zoning hearing, but were not due to COVID-19 concerns.
One of them, Leonard Jacobs, told East Cobb News prior to the hearing that the athletic field “will be part of my back yard. I can watch them from my dining room table.”
He said the process has been rushed, and residents had only six days between meeting with Moore and the hearing date.
He said that he wanted to “correct the impression” that the school “is trying to mitigate the nuisance they have created on a property too small and poorly located for the stated purpose.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Dec. 20 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
An Amazon Prime delivery truck tried to make a delivery at Tokyo Valentino in July, days after it was ordered closed by a Cobb judge. Photo: ECN file
After months of legal wrangling, an adult retail store on Johnson Ferry Road closed without much of a murmur in September 2021.
A “For Lease” sign was raised over a window at the Tokyo Valentino store while the business’ owner continued fighting a Cobb County government effort to permanently revoke its operating license.
In July, a Cobb Superior Court judge issued an injunction for the store to temporarily close, after claims by the county that Tokyo Valentino falsely applied to open a clothing store, then featured an inventory mostly of sex toys after opening in June 2020 as Tokyo Valentino.
During a court hearing, county officials said Tokyo Valentino had not applied for 2020 business licenses, was staying open past its required closing time and was violating other provisions of a new adult business ordinance.
Cobb commissioners voted in late 2021 to revoke the store’s business license, but Tokyo Valentino appealed to the courts, as it has done in other battles with metro Atlanta jurisdictions.
But a federal lawsuit filed against the county was dismissed and sent back to Cobb. After the Superior Court injunction in July, Tokyo Valentino appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals, but that also has been remanded back to the local level.
Last fall, the Tokyo Valentino store was robbed by a burglar whom police allege stole more than $21,000 of lingerie, sex enhancement pills, CBD products, sex toys and gift cards.
The store was open for a little more than a year; a new tenant for that space is still being sought. Another Tokyo Valentino store, in the city of Marietta near the Big Chicken, remains open, but also is involved in court disputes.
As he was giving up on his East Cobb location, Tokyo Valentino owner Michael Morrison told the AJC that “I don’t see much of a future in this business,” noting how general changes in the retail industry also were affecting adult businesses.
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The director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health said Tuesday that the spread of COVID-19 in Cobb County has rapidly increased over the last week.
In an e-mail message, Dr. Janet Memark said the current transmission rate of COVID-19 is 348 per 100,000 people, well beyond the “high” threshold of 100/100K.
That number—which includes both PCR and Antigen tests—was in the low 200s at the end of last week, and Cobb briefly dipped to the high 80s a week ago.
Memark said in an interview recorded Tuesday by Cobb County government (see video at bottom) that the percentage of sequenced Omicron cases in the Southeast have shot up from three percent a week ago to 95 percent now.
“This is definitely one of the fastest things that I’ve ever seen,” she said.
The test positivity rate for COVID-19 also has jumped quickly, from around 5 percent at the end of last week—a figure that public health officials have said is a threshold of concern—to more than 11 percent as of Tuesday.
“Hospitalizations have continued to rise over the last month,” said Memark. “We are not at levels like our first two large surges, but we do see steady increases, and the hospitals remain busy. Reports are that the majority of folks hospitalized continue to be unvaccinated.”
CDC data as of Tuesday indicated that there have been 1,959 new cases of COVID-19 in Cobb over the last seven days, representing an increase of 154 percent over the last week.
There also have been 86 COVID-related hospital admissions and 14 deaths in that time in the county, according to the CDC figures.
Memark said that while Omicron transmission is very fast, that the symptoms thus far are milder than the previous Delta variant and the original COVID-19 virus.
“Right now we’re trying to keep this down as best we can,” she said in the video. “My fear is we’re going to have so many more people infected that we’re going to have a surge in the hospitalizations as well, and that’s one of our greatest concerns.”
Memark urged citizens to get boosters for their vaccines, not to gather with others if they are sick, to wear masks in public and avoid crowds, in particular to avoid pressures on hospitals.
“This is not easy to do during the holidays, but we hope that this will pass quickly, and we don’t have too many seriously sick,” said Memark, adding that most of those hospitalized are not vaccinated.
The Omicron variant has spread rapidly since its identification a month ago to the World Health Organization, and is considered the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S., making up more than 70 percent of new cases.
Many of those cases are occurring in the Northeast and Midwest states, which has some of the highest increases in the country despite having some of the highest vaccination rates.
Memark said less than 15 percent, however, have received booster shots. “Getting your booster shot for COVID-19 will help boost your antibodies,” she said. “Please do this.”
Cobb and Douglas Public Health continues to offer free COVID-19 tests and vaccines. For information and to book appointments, please click here.
