A reader recently asked us about the delayed reopening of the Willeo Creek Bridge, which we reported in September was being pushed back to Dec. 20.
We checked with Cobb County government, which told us this morning that there’s another, equally substantial delay, and that the contractor wasn’t going to be able to meet the new deadline.
Instead, the estimated reopening timetable is in March 2022. Here’s what county spokesman Ross Cavitt passed along in response to our inquiry:
“Baldwin Paving Company, Inc., the contractor for the Willeo Road over Willeo Creek project, will be unable to reopen the bridge to traffic on December 20, 2021 as the county previously expected. The county is pursuing every option to expedite this project, including leveraging fines for the delays. The contractor provided a revised date of March 2022 to reopen the bridge to traffic.”
No reasons for the latest delay were elaborated; previously the contractor cited weather and “unexpected conditions” under the bridge for needing additional time.
As we’ve noted previously, the best detour option if you need to get to that area of Roswell is the same—head east on Roswell Road, then south on Willeo Road.
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Current Cobb Board of Education posts have been in effect since 2012; for a larger view click here.
The Cobb Board of Education is expected to be presented with proposed reapportionment maps at its December work session on Thursday afternoon.
The board is meeting in public at a 2 p.m. work session and a 7 p.m. business session Thursday at the Cobb County School District Central Office (514 Glover St., Marietta).
There will be public comment periods at the start of both meetings, but speakers must sign up in advance by clicking here.
Each public comment session is limited to 30 minutes, and individual speakers have a maximum of two minutes.
The agendas for both meetings can be found here; the work session technically begins at 1 p.m., but members will convene, go into an executive session and return for a public work session at 2 p.m.
Another executive session will take place between the public meetings.
The three board business items listed on the work session agenda are all related to reapportionment but don’t have much detailed information.
In August, the board voted along partisan lines to hire Taylor English Duma LLP, a law firm based in the Cumberland area, to redraw the seven school board districts, or posts, following the release of the 2020 census.
(PLEASE NOTE: These boundaries have no bearing on specific school attendance zones, which are drawn administratively by the Cobb County School District staff.)
Reapportionment for elected political subdivisions is required every 10 years. The Cobb legislative delegation will be redrawing the Cobb and Marietta school boards and Cobb Board of Commissioners districts in January, as well as city council wards in the county’s six cities.
Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn, part of the four-member Republican majority, brought the measure to present the legislative delegation with a map proposal. His board business item for Thursday says only that it will be for “Redistricting/Reapportionment Presentation (for potential action).”
Before that, board member Tre’ Hutchins will present a reapportionment item. He is a first-term Democrat from Post 3 in South Cobb.
Charisse Davis, a Democrat from Post 6, which includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters, also will present a board business item labeled “Redistricting/Reapportionment Update.”
Her seat is one of three school board posts that will be up for the 2022 elections.
She’s completing her first term, and currently her post includes part of the Smyrna-Vinings area, where she lives.
Davis has not indicated if she will be seeking re-election. In October, Amy Henry, a parent in the Walton High School cluster, declared her intent to run for Post 6 as a Republican.
Also up for re-election in 2022 is Post 4 Republican David Chastain (Kell and Sprayberry clusters) who has indicated he will be seeking another term.
The board also will be presented with a request to take out $100 million in short-term loans to finance construction projects.
The money would be repaid at the end of 2022 with collections from the school district’s Special Local Option Sales Tax, and the board wouldn’t adopt a formal resolution until January.
Among the major projects slated to begin construction next year is the rebuild of Eastvalley Elementary School on the former campus of East Cobb Middle School on Holt Road.
At the work session, the board will receive a presentation about the Cobb Teaching and Learning System online portal.
At the Thursday evening meeting, two state champion sports teams from East Cobb high schools—Walton volleyball and Lassiter softball—will be recognized by the board.
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After opening its first GreenWise organic supermarket in Georgia to much fanfare last June, Publix is closing that location—at the Sandy Plains MarketPlace—this weekend.
The last day of business will be Saturday for the East Cobb GreenWise store (3460 Sandy Plains Road).
A reader who went to the store Monday said he hadn’t seen an official notice until then, following a report last month in Tomorrow’s News Today, an Atlanta retail, restaurant and hospitality news site.
East Cobb News sent a message to GreenWise, which provided the following response:
“It has been GreenWise Market’s privilege to serve the Marietta community.
“As you can imagine, closing one of our stores is never an easy decision to make, and there are a number of factors considered when making that decision.
“Please know, all associates at this location will be offered to relocate to nearby Publix stores if they so desire. We sincerely apologize for any disappointment this may cause, but we thank you for welcoming us into your community.”
East Cobb News also has contacted Orkin and Associates, the shopping center owner, for comment.
The GreenWise store, with more than 25,000 square feet of space in a standalone building, has been the anchor for Sandy Plains Marketplace, which opened in late 2019 on the site of the former campus of Mountain View Elementary School.
There are nine GreenWise stores still operating—eight in Florida, the home base for Publix, and another near Birmingham, Ala.
Publix recently opened its seventh supermarket in East Cobb in the East Cobb Crossing Shopping Center, next to Dick’s Sporting Goods on Roswell Road at Johnson Ferry Road.
The first Publix store in Georgia opened just across the street from GreenWise at Highland Plaza Shopping Center, at Sandy Plains and Shallowford roads.
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A developer wants to turn an older homesite on Trickum Road with an ample backyard and wooded area into a 10-home subdivision.
An application by Lot One Homes would convert 4.33 acres across from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints into a new residential community along a very slender stretch of property owned by The Edna E. Miller Revocable Trust.
The case will be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission, which is conducting its final hearing until February.
The Lot One Homes application is seeking RA-5 zoning for the lot, which in its current R-20 category would allow up to seven homes (you can read the filing here).
The request for 10 detached homes calls for a density of 2.3 units per acre, and the Cobb Zoning Office has recommended approval for a limit of 2.1 units an acre, as well as other conditions.
This isn’t the first time this piece of land has gone before the county for rezoning. Garvis Sams, a noted Cobb zoning attorney representing Lot One Homes, wrote in a Nov. 23 stipulation letter that the property was included in a larger assemblage in 2006 for 22 homes in a case that was rejected and later was subject to litigation.
But the developer didn’t close on the land, which has remained R-20, Sams said.
The land is located above the Hillcrest Oaks subdivision along Sandy Plains Road that’s zoned RA-4, a higher density.
The Lot One Homes request calls for homes along one residential street, with the homes ranging between 2,650 and 3,150 square feet and possibly more, bordered by 10-15 feet landscaping buffers and guest parking spaces.
At the back of the development would be a home on a cul-de-sac, with a detention pond and a stormwater management area.
Sams said in his letter his client has been discussing the case with the East Cobb Civic Association, which has said it is in support of the application per the stipulation letter and other stipulations.
The case is Z-85 and it’s scheduled to be heard close to the end of the hearing, under new business.
The hearing starts at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
COVID-19 protocols are being followed, including mandatory masks and a limit on in-person attendance due to social-distancing.
The hearing also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.
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Town Center at Cobb is holding an American Red Cross blood drive Dec. 20-22 to address what’s being termed “an extraordinary blood shortage” during the holiday season.
The blood drive will take place from 12-5 p.m. each day at the mall’s upper level wing near JC Penney (400 Ernest Barrett Parkway).
The Red Cross is following FBA blood donation eligibility guidance for donors who’ve been vaccinated for COVID-19. For more information visit redcrossblood.org.
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Let East Cobb News know what events and activities your organization is having for the public in the community for the holidays.
Pass along your details to: [email protected], and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.
Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.
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Citing unnamed sources, Politico reported that Perdue has been actively recruited to seek the Republican nomination from sitting GOP Gov. Brian Kemp by former President Donald Trump.
The story comes several days after Democrat Stacey Abrams, who barely lost to Kemp in the 2018 governor’s race, announced she was launching another bid for the office.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution also reported that Perdue would be announcing, saying that he “has told allies he was motivated to join the race because he fears Kemp can’t defeat the Democrat again.”
Perdue, who lost his Senate seat earlier this year, had considered running in 2022 against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who is completing the term won in 2016 by the now-retired Johnny Isakson.
Trump narrowly lost Georgia in the 2020 presidential race, and was critical of Kemp for not working to overturn the election results.
Kemp has come under fire from some Georgia Republicans for that and other reasons.
In October, the Cobb County Republican Party passed a resolution censuring Kemp, over immigration and COVID-19 passports and not over issues directly related to Trump or the elections.
That action prompted the resignation of former chairman Jason Shepherd from the county committee. The Cobb Young Republicans then denounced the censure.
Former Democratic legislator Vernon Jones, a declared Republican gubernatorial candidate, has been trying to court Trump supporters with his criticisms of Kemp.
The former president held a rally in September in Perry, Ga., suggesting support for Abrams.
“Having her, I think, might be better than having your existing governor, if you want to know what I think,” he said.
Kemp recently received an endorsement from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
Trump’s complaints about the election results being “rigged” in Georgia diminished Republican interest in the January U.S. Senate runoffs.
Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who had been appointed by Kemp to succeed Isakson until the 2020 elections, were unseated by Democrats Jon Ossoff and Warnock, respectively.
Trump also is backing Herschel Walker, the former University of Georgia football star, who is running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate seat held by Warnock.
There’s also a GOP primary forming that includes Georgia Agriculture Secretary Gary Black.
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The Johnson Ferry-Shallowford Master Plan, adopted in 2020, reflects community desires to maintain a distinct suburban feel.
A controversial proposal to create a Unified Development Code in Cobb County will be further introduced to the public on Wednesday in the first of several town hall meetings to take place over the next few months.
The Wednesday virtual meeting, which will be presented by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, starts at 6:30 p.m., and will be live-streamed on the county government’s YouTube channel.
Citizens wishing to ask questions in advance can do so by e-mailing [email protected].
In October, Cobb commissioners approved a contract for consulting services to establish a UDC, which incorporates zoning, planning and land-use with design, landscaping, architectural and other guidelines.
That’s the first word that got out to the public that a UDC process was being developed. Other metro Atlanta jurisdictions with UDC codes include Atlanta and DeKalb, and most recently, the city of Roswell, whose code went into effect in 2014.
The Cobb Community Development Agency said on an information page that the changes are needed to “streamline these documents into one combined document that would be more easily accessible to the public, designers, and County staff reviewers.”
At a recent commission meeting, county community development director Jessica Guinn said Cobb’s zoning ordinance is more than 50 years old, and that a more comprehensive process is needed that periodic updates.
But some leading civic leaders have been vocal in opposition, including Vinings resident Ron Sifen, who said the county hasn’t explained exactly what needs to be updated.
Another critic is East Cobb resident Jan Barton, who wrote a letter to the editor to the MDJ in November declaring the UDC a “war” on the suburbs.
The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, which is proposing planning and zoning services, republished the letter on its website. Two other cityhood movements in Cobb, in Vinings and west Cobb, also have emerged this year out of concerns over high-density development in the county.
Those concerns also were raised earlier this year during protracted zoning cases in the East Cobb area, over the redevelopment of the Sprayberry Crossing shopping center and the East Cobb Church mixed-use case at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford Roads.
(The East Cobb Church project, which includes high-density housing that were opposed by some nearby residents, is on property that would be included in the proposed city of East Cobb.)
In a video posted last week on the county’s website, Guinn told Cobb government public information officer Ross Cavitt that “what you see in your neighborhood is going to pretty much be the same.”
Cobb is currently conducting a five-year update the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which will be one of the main documents used during the UDC process.
Other community meetings on the UDC have been scheduled through March, including a Jan. 24 meeting at the Mlountain View Regional Library from 6-8 p.m.
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Let East Cobb News know what events and activities your organization is having for the public in the community for the holidays.
Pass along your details to: [email protected], and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.
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The Walton High School football team has reached the semifinals of the Georgia High School Association Class 7A state playoffs.
The Raiders, who are ranked No. 6 this week, will play at No. 3 Milton Friday, and Peachtree TV is showing the game live in the metro Atlanta area.
That means a later start than usual, with kickoff slated for 8 p.m.
Last week, the Raiders defeated Brookwood by a 52-35 score and are 9-3, while Milton is 12-1.
This is the first time in 10 years that Walton has reached at least the semifinals. In 2011, the Raiders went all the way to the state championship game before losing to Grayson.
No. 7 Grayson, the defending state champion this year, is participating in the other semifinal game on Friday, facing Gwinnett rival Collins Hill, which is ranked No. 1.
The winners of Friday’s games will meet for the state Class 7A championship next Saturday at Center Parc Stadium (formerly Turner Field) in downtown Atlanta.
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The first full weekend of the Christmas and Hanukkah seasons feels almost back to normal.
In the East Cobb area, many of the events that were cancelled or modified in 2020 are returning, almost like they were before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among them is Holiday Lights at East Cobb Park, which will feature a tribute to Johnny Johnson, the late East Cobb jewelry store owner and civic leader who served for many years as Santa Claus at that event.
Holiday Lights went virtual last year, but the public is welcome on Sunday, starting at 5 p.m., with music, refreshments and the tree lighting at the back of the park (3322 Roswell Road) near the concert stage.
Two cancelled events that have long been East Cobb traditions are back as they were: the 40th annual Apple Annie Arts & Craft Show at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road) on Saturday and Sunday; and the Johnson Ferry Christmas Party on Saturday. More details about both from our post earlier this week.
The longstanding Bethlehem Walk at Mountain View United Methodist Church (2300 Jamerson Road) went virtual last year, but is resuming its interactive Nativity re-enactment Saturday and Sunday (7-9 p.m.) for in-person visitors.
A full slate of holiday events at The Avenue East Cobb began with a Menorah lighting Monday, and this weekend includes Santa events and this Friday and next, caroling with the Dickerson Middle School chorus. Here’s our previous post on all that’s going on for the rest of the holidays.
Also starting on Friday, and continuing through Jan. 6, is one of East Cobb’s most dazzling neighborhood holiday lights displays, at the Fox residence (2994 Clary Hill Court), in the Clary Lakes subdivision. They’ve coordinated thousands of moving parts into a musically-coordinated show that you can listen to on your car radio as you drive by. The display can be seen daily from 6-10 p.m.
After being held as a self-guided tour last year, the Marietta Pilgrimage Tour returns for viewings on Saturday (9-8) and Sunday (10-5) of five homes in the Kennesaw Avenue Historic District:
The Cox-Brown-Parker House, 109 Maple Avenue
Magnolia Cottage, 103 Maple Avenue
Northcutt-James-Ferrer House, 97 Maple Avenue
Gentry House, 76 Maple Avenue
Mayes-Crissey-Clements House, 140 Stewart Avenue.
The tour is organized by the Marietta Welcome Center and Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society; tickets are $25 in advance (and can be purchased at the tour website by clicking the above link) and $30 on the day of the tour. Advance tickets can be picked up at the Marietta Welcome Center (4 Depot St.) or William Root House (80 N. Marietta Parkway) through Sunday. They won’t be available at the homes.
Guests and volunteers must wear masks while visiting the tour homes and while riding the tour shuttle bus. Masks will be provided for those who do not have them. The Pilgrimage gala has been cancelled for 2021.
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We’ve posted about this over the last few years and are happy to share this extraordinary Christmas holiday lights display again:
The Fox family of East Cobb is once again having its animated display featuring thousands of lights and that are synchronized to music.
The display starts on Friday and continues daily from 6-10 p.m. through Jan. 6, and is open to the public for drive-by viewing and listening of Christmas favorites (88.3FM). We’ve included a video clip from a previous year to give you an idea at the bottom of this post.
The address is 2994 Clary Hill Court, Roswell, in the Clary Lakes subdivision, and is accessible via McPherson Road, just north of Post Oak Tritt Road.
Here’s this year’s playlist:
1. Amazing Grace-Yule
2. Christmas Canon-Trans-Siberian Orchestra
3. Christmas Eve Sarajevo-Trans-Siberian Orchestra
9. Miracle on 34th Street Overture-Bruce Broughton
10. Linus and Lucy-Vince Guaraldi
11. Queen of the Winter Night-Trans-Siberian Orchestra
12. Sleigh Ride-The Ronettes
13. Wizard in Winter-Trans-Siberian Orchestra
14. Candy Cane Lane-Sia
15. Jingle Bells-Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Karen Fox said the display is similar to previous years, and includes not one, but two snow machines, leaping arches, an animated skating pond and a frozen display.
This is the 14th year of the display, and Fox said the family is once again asking for donations to be made to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church.
The display also is entered in the Cobb EMC light contest, and you can vote by clicking here.
Updates for the display, including a special visit from Santa Claus, will be provided on its Facebook page.
Let East Cobb News know what events and activities your organization is having for the public in the community for the holidays.
Pass along your details to: [email protected], and please observe the following guidelines to ensure we get everything properly and can post it promptly.
Send the body of your announcement, calendar item or news release IN TEXT FORM ONLY in the text field of your e-mail template. Reformatting text from PDF, JPG and doc files takes us longer to prepare your message for publication.
We accept PDFs as an accompaniment to your item. Images are fine too, but we prefer those to be JPG files (more than jpeg and png). PLEASE DO NOT send photos inside a PDF or text or any other kind of file. Of course, send us links that are relevant to your message so we can direct people to your website.
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Stacey Abrams, who narrowly lost to Brian Kemp in the 2018 campaign for Georgia governor, said Wednesday she’s seeking the same office in 2022.
Abrams, a Democratic former state representative from Atlanta, announced on her Twitter account that “I’m running for Governor because opportunity in our state shouldn’t be determined by zip code, background or access to power.”
The Tweet included a link for donations to her campaign and a video that referenced Medicaid expansion, access to COVID-19 vaccines, cleaning up from storm damage and reviving small businesses.
“In the end, we are one Georgia,” Abrams narrates in the video, “regardless of the pandemic or the storms, the obstacles in our way or the forces determined to divide us.
“My job has been to keep my head down and keep working toward one Georgia. . . If our Georgia is going to move to its next chapter, we’re going to need leadership.”
Abrams is the first Democrat to announce for governor, and she’ll be headlining her party’s efforts to win more statewide offices after Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff unseated GOP U.S. Senate incumbents earlier this year.
Warnock is seeking a full six-year term in 2022, but the emergence of Abrams—who’s become a Democratic fundraising, voting-rights and candidate recruiting powerhouse—will also generate national attention.
Republicans hold all other statewide offices in Georgia, including governor.
Kemp has not formally declared he’s seeking a second term. Vernon Jones, a former Democratic state legislator from DeKalb County, has announced his campaign in the Republican primary.
Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue also is considering a GOP run for governor.
Abrams lost to Kemp in 2018 by less than 1.5 percent of the vote and never formally conceded, claiming that voting access was curtailed for many Georgians.
She launched a voting-rights and access organization, called Fair Fight, that also advocates for such issues as Medicaid expansion and medical debt relief.
Fair Fight also has filed a federal lawsuit against the Georgia Attorney General’s office and the Georgia Board of Elections over voting rights that is expected to go to trial in February.
Abrams won Cobb County in an election in which local Democrats made incursions in the Republican stronghold of East Cobb.
In 2020, Democrats gained control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, while Republicans held on to a slight majority on the Cobb Board of Education.
Among the Democrats who won local office in 2018 is Charisse Davis, who defeated GOP incumbent Scott Sweeney for Post 6 on the Cobb school board, which includes the Walton and Wheeler clusters.
Davis has not announced whether she’s seeking re-election; the Cobb legislative delegation will be conducting reapportionment for school board posts and county commission districts in January.
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The following East Cobb food scores for the week of Nov. 29 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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The Cobb County School District is having a job fair for support staff positions next Tuesday, Dec. 7.
The job fair will take place at the Cobb Energy Centre for Performing Arts (2800 Cobb Galleria Parkway) from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The available positions include bus drivers, custodians, Food & Nutrition Services, substitutes, and special education paraprofessionals. The district said that candidates for other jobs, including teachers, are welcome to attend.
Participants can register in advance by clicking here or onsite at the job fair.
In August, substitute teachers and other support staff members received bonuses through the end of the current 2021-22 school year.
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A slightly revised proposed East Cobb city map includes apartment communities along Columns Drive. For a larger view, click here.
The East Cobb Cityhood group held a virtual information session in mid-November about the results of a financial feasibility study, which is required by state law for cityhood legislation to be considered.
That session, which included questions about the decision to add police and fire services that were not originally proposed, is the last of calendar year 2021.
Cindy Cooperman, a spokeswoman for the group, told East Cobb News that more sessions for people living in the proposed city boundaries will be taking place starting in January.
She said those events will cater to neighborhoods and community groups interested in learning more.
“We are available upon request if your neighborhood is interested in having us speak to the group. We can be contacted at[email protected] or connect directly with any of the committee members listed on our website.”
January marks the start of the 2022 Georgia General Assembly, when the East Cobb Cityhood legislation, House Bill 841, will be taken up (you can read it here).
Sponsored by East Cobb Republican House members Matt Dollar and Sharon Cooper, the bill is one of four cityhood initiatives in Cobb County, along with Lost Mountain, Vinings and Mableton.
Unlike the 2019 East Cobb cityhood campaign, none of the current effort’s events have been in-person, due to COVID-19 concerns.
Those 2019 town halls turned out large, sometimes hostile crowds at churches and schools, and in a November 2019 forum before the East Cobb Business Association between the cityhood group and opponents from the East Cobb Alliance, a citizens group formed to fight the initiative.
There also was a lack of support from Cobb elected officials about cityhood, including State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb, who said she received negative feedback.
The East Cobb Alliance has posted updates about the 2021 effort (including links to some of our posts), but has been otherwise quiet.
Mindy Seger, an Alliance member who participated in the ECBA forum in 2019, told East Cobb News Monday that “a new cityhood is not any better poised to provide the same level of service for police and fire than the last effort.”
She noted that proposed fire services include two fire stations. “It’s a very small department of only two stations with the reduced footprint,” she said. “I’m not convinced my out of pocket costs at the end of the day won’t be higher.”
The financial feasibility study released earlier this month and conducted by Georgia State University researchers concludes a City of East Cobb, even with police and fire services, would run a $3 million annual surplus.
The other proposed services are planning and zoning and code enforcement.
The revived Committee for East Cobb Cityhood has been conducting a straw poll since the new effort was lanched in March, indicating incrementally growing support for the idea of cityhood.
“The results show growing support for cityhood and a large group of undecided residents,” Cooperman said in response to our questions, some coming from readers, about who was polled.
“Many questions submitted by residents indicate an interest to learn more about how the new city would operate, the map boundaries and financial impact. The committee is committed to answering questions and providing the detail residents need to make an informed decision.”
We also asked how the survey was conducted, and she said that participants in virtual town halls submitted questions in advance.
The number of respondents during the surveys (conducted during those virtual town halls on April 14, May 20 and Nov. 17), ranged from 96, to 169, according to Cooperman.
When asked whether they were in favor of “East Cobb becoming a city with local representation and local control?” the respondents were asked to indicate whether they “Strongly Support, Somewhat Support, Neither Support nor Oppose, Somewhat Oppose, Strongly Oppose” incorporation.
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Wellstar chief pediatric officer Dr. Avril Beckford, executive director of Health Parks and Pediatric Center Hunter Carlson, and Hunter’s family celebrate after two of his children are vaccinated. Source: Wellstar Health System
Wellstar Health System has begun administering COVID-19 vaccinations to children between the ages of 5-11 in a special clinic period continuing through January 2022.
In a news release issued Tuesday, Wellstar said that the clinics, which began in early November for existing system patients, have booked more than 2,000 appointments through January.
The clinics are taking place at two Wellstar facilities, including the East Cobb Health Park (3747 Roswell Road).
“We are incredibly excited by the high demand and interest in pediatric vaccinations and proud of the families who have taken the important step to vaccinate their children to offer some of our youngest patients protection against COVID,” Dr. Avril Beckford, chief pediatric officer for Wellstar Health System, said in the release.
The clinics include waiting rooms for families and parents can schedule follow-up visits, including second vaccine doses, as well as other immunizations.
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The Apple Annie Arts & Crafts Show is marking its 40th year at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.
As we’ve been noting in recent weeks, many of the holiday events that were cancelled or limited to virtual participation in 2020 are reverting to in-person formats this year, including one of East Cobb’s longest-standing Christmas festivities.
The Apple Annie Arts & Crafts Show is marking its 40th anniversary this weekend at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road).
The show takes place Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with a $5 admission charge per person that’s good for both days.
The proceeds benefit local charities at the direction of the St. Ann Council of Catholic Women, and since the show began in 1981, more than $500,000 has been donated.
As usual, there will be more than 100 exhibitors selling handmade items, along with a cafe serving drinks and snacks, a bake sale and raffles, including and heirloom quilt at the end of the show.
Because of an ongoing construction project, there’s limited parking at the church, but there will be free shuttle service available at Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul (1795 Johnson Ferry Road).
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road) is resuming much of its Christmas scheduling, starting on Saturday with its annual Johnson Ferry Christmas Party for families and children. That’s taking place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and includes more than 20 venues featuring horse carriage rides, a food truck, live music, crafts, a snow slide and more.
Next weekend is the Johnson Ferry Christmas Festival, featuring the church’s choir and orchestra in three worship services with Christmas music favorites and the story of Jesus’ birth.
The services are Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 4 and 7 p.m.
All of the Johnson Ferry events are free and open to the public. For more, click here.
As noted earlier, Sunday is the return of Holiday Lights at East Cobb Park; and The Avenue East Cobb is having several holiday events, starting Tuesday with a Menorah lighting as the Jewish faith begins weeklong Hanukkah festivities.
We’re continuing to post news about holiday events as we get them, and as their dates draw near, so please let us know what you’ve got going on that’s open to the public. See the paragraphs below for submitting your information.
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A rendering of the new Gritters Library, to be built next to the current facility.
Cobb County government has pushed back two groundbreakings of new facilities in the Northeast Cobb area that were to have taken place this week, “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
And the groundbreaking for a newly created Precinct 6 of the Cobb Police Department has been rescheduled for Monday, Dec. 13, also at 2 p.m. (2640 Gordy Parkway), adjacent to the Mountain View Aquatic Center.
Cobb commissioners approved both projects recently with funding from the 2016 SPLOST.
The new Gritters branch will be located next to the current building that opened in 1973 at the entrance to Shaw Park. The cost is $6.8 million, with commissioners finalizing the project in August with a $1.9 million grant from the Georgia Public Library Service.
In November, commissioners approved the $5 million Precinct 6 facility, which initially will house several specialized units of Cobb Police and will not have a patrol zone.
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Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady Jr. has spoken out on the murder convictions of three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick.
Travis McMichael, Greg McMichael and William R. Bryan, all white defendants, were found guilty of the murder of Arbery, a black man, by a Glynn County jury the day before Thanksgiving.
The case, which drew national headlines, was prosecuted by Cobb DA’s office. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr reassigned the cases in May 2020 after the Glynn District Attorney recused herself because Gregory McMichael worked as an investigator in that office.
Broady, who defeated appointed Cobb DA Joyette Holmes last November, said in a statement issued by his office Friday that “were determined that each of the defendants were given a fair trial and I believe we did that.”
He also commended his staff, including “lead prosecutor Senior ADA Linda Dunikoski, Senior ADA Paul Camarillo, ADA Larissa Ollivierre and a host of others from our office [who] worked tirelessly to ensure justice for this [Arbery] family.
“We held firm to the belief that our criminal justice system works. When you remove the hate, the intolerance and divisiveness and focus on truth, integrity, and unity that justice will prevail.”
Arbery, who was 25, was jogging in a Brunswick neighborhood on Feb. 23, 2020 when he was shot down.
A viral video showing him being shot as he ran was released several weeks later, and made national headlines in the wake of the George Floyd death in Minneapolis, sparking national protests at the behest of Black Lives Matter.
Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper Jones, publicly fought for her son’s death to be prosecuted after the Glynn District Attorney declined to bring charges, citing Georgia’s citizen arrest law.
After an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Carr assigned the Cobb DA’s office to investigate and prosecute the cases.
In its 2021 session, the Georgia legislature revised the citizen arrest law and enacted a hate crimes statute for the first time.
The Glynn County jury had 11 white people and one black juror, and during the trial saw video footage showing Travis McMichael in a pickup truck, shooting Arbery at close range as he ran.
Travis McMichael was convicted of malice murder and eight other felony charges. His father, Greg McMcMichael, was found guilty of four charges of felony murder but was found not guilty of malice murder.
Bryan, who recorded the incident from his phone while riding in the McMichaels’ truck, was convicted of three felony murder charges.
They all face life in prison.
Broady said that the Glynn jury “made a clear statement ” in finding all three men guilty of murder, one that “reflects a new direction for our communities, this State, and the nation, to denounce hate, division and intolerance and promote unity.
“This case has garnered national attention, recalling attention to a past, this nation yearns to forget. It is important that we never forget. That we look at our past and map a new way forward. That we understand our prior shortcomings and work to the goal enumerated in our founding documents, ‘all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness’ and may we add Justice. In order to do that it takes strength and courage, to demand the rights entitled to us by our Constitution and laws.”
The Cobb DA’s office is in charge of prosecuting Jackie Johnson, the former Glynn prosecutor, who was indicted in September for her handling of the cases.
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!
