The Cobb County School District has reported more than 500 COVID-19 cases among students and staff since July 1, according to new figures posted on Friday.
The district has been updating that figure weekly since the first week of face-to-face learning began last month.
When elementary students returned in the first phase of reopening, there had been 287 COVID cases reported.
Since the campuses reopened for classes, there have been 223 reported cases, which don’t break down specific numbers of students and staff.
The current week’s total is 67 more than last week and includes cases reported at 32 elementary and middle schools.
Ten or fewer cases were reported at each school, which has been the case since the district began posting. The district does not disclose the exact number at each school when the threshold is at or under 10.
Nine of those schools are in East Cobb, including three that had no reported previous cases.
They are Addison ES, Sope Creek ES and Dodgen MS.
Other East Cobb schools with reported cases this week, and which have reported cases in previous weeks, are Brumby ES, East Side ES, Tritt ES, Daniell MS, East Cobb MS and Mabry MS.
Cobb high school students returned for face-to-face learning on Thursday; previously the district began posting COVID case figures for elementary and middle schools at the end of the second week of students’ return to campus.
As of Thursday there have been 22,836 COVID cases in Cobb County since March, and 469 deaths. In East Cobb, more than 5,000 cases have been reported and nearly 100 deaths.
At one point the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 population in Cobb dropped just below 100, which is considered high community spread.
As of Thursday, that two-week figure is 171 cases per 100,000 people. That’s been a key metric used by Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale. He ordered the start of the school year to be all online when that average was in the 300-400 range, then called for a phased reopening when the average dropped between 100-200.
In explaining its COVID reporting procedures, the Cobb school district said that in accordance with student and health privacy laws, “the Georgia Department of Public Health recommends refraining from publicly publishing numbers of cases or quarantined students or staff that are less than 10 unless the number is 0.”
Cobb and Douglas Public health will “communicate confirmed cases to affected students/staff/ parents,” according to CCSD protocols.
Those guidelines also state that those who test positive “will isolate until 10 consecutive days have passed from their positive COVID-19 test and they are asymptomatic.”
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Here’s an update from Cobb County government as of 10:30 Friday morning:
Cobb Elections workers are working with the bi-partisan panel to adjudicate the last few ballots under investigation.
They have 25 ballots left to adjudicate. Another 50 cured ballots will be processed only after confirming those voters are NOT on the list of those who voted on election day.
There are 906 provisional ballots pending. Voters have until the end of the day today to provide ID if they didn’t have it at the polls, sign the absentee envelope if there was a missing signature or provide more evidence if the ballot was identified as having a signature mismatch. Those voters were contacted by letter, email, or phone call.
The majority of those are in Gwinnett (4,800), which like Cobb has been surging for Democrats in recent elections.
As of 10:30 a.m., Democratic former vice president Joe Biden took the lead from Republican President Donald Trump overnight Friday, by 1,098 votes, with Georgia’s 16 electoral votes up for grabs.
As of 10:30 a.m., Biden had 2,449,590 votes to 2,448,492 for Trump.
That’s a difference of 1,098 votes.
Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue also was trying to avoid a runoff with Democrat Jon Ossoff. At 10:30 a.m. Perdue has 49.84 percent of the vote to Ossoff’s 47.84 percent.
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Leaders of the Walton Marching Raider Band have announced that their final recycling event of the year – known for accepting metal, electronics and paint – will be held this Saturday, November 7th. Proceeds support the marching band program and help provide a high-quality experience for East Cobb students attending George H. Walton Comprehensive High School.
The final recycling event of 2020 will be held on Saturday, November 7, 2020 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Walton High School, 1590 Bill Murdock Rd, Marietta, GA 30062.
Support of the event is especially needed this year due to the novel coronavirus and its impact on regular band fundraising activities.
All residents and businesses are welcome to donate and support this Walton Marching Raider Band event. People who have cleaned their homes during the pandemic and don’t know what to do with the metal, electronics and paint they want to dispose of and local businesses who are in the same situation are all welcome to support the event.
The Walton Marching Raider Band is participating in a limited number of school events and following stringent protocols including wearing masks and being physically distanced during outside performances.
Here’s more information, including a list of items that will be accepted and how you can pay; the cost is a $10 donation per car.
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As final votes were being counted in Georgia, news outlets began calling the presidential race for Biden based on vote-counting in his home state of Pennsylvania.
If that holds up, that would give Biden 290 electoral votes to 214 for Trump. Presidential candidates need 270 votes to win.
Georgia, Arizona and Nevada were the other states that remain too close to call.
Trump led Biden in Georgia by 370,000 votes on election night, but absentee ballots have heavily been in favor of Biden.
Biden and Ossoff also won Cobb County easily, as did Raphael Warnock, the first-place finisher in a “jungle primary” special election in the other U.S. Senate race.
Warnock, the minister of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—the church of Martin Luther King Jr.—will face U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican appointed last year.
The winner of that runoff will fill the remaining two years of the term won in 2015 by Johnson, who retired due to health reasons..
UPDATED, FRIDAY 10:30 A.M.:
Democratic former vice president Joe Biden edged ahead of Republican President Donald Trump overnight Friday, with Georgia’s 16 electoral votes up for grabs.
As of 10:30 a.m., Biden had 2,449,590 votes to 2,448,492 for Trump.
That’s a difference of 1,098 votes.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that as of 8:15 a.m. Friday, there are 8,197 votes still to count in Georgia, including 700 in Cobb County.
The majority of those votes are in Gwinnett, where 4,800 votes have not been counted in a county that like Cobb has been surging toward Democrats in recent elections.
Provisional, military and overseas ballots, and ballots needing to be “cured” or corrected by voters also were to be counted on Friday.
Biden also has moved ahead of Trump in Pennsylvania as final vote-counting continues.
Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue (in photo at left) was trying to fend off a runoff with Democrat Jon Ossoff (in photo at right). That runoff would take place on Jan. 5.
Perdue’s lead as of 10:30 a.m. Friday stands at 98,849 over Ossoff. More importantly, Perdue has 49.84 percent of the vote to Ossoff’s 47.84 percent.
Runoffs take place in Georgia when the leading candidate gets less than 50 percent of the vote plus one vote.
Shane Hazel, a Libertarian candidate, has tallied 2.32 percent of the vote.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Cobb will certify election results next Friday, Nov. 13.
Party control of the U.S. Senate, which has been in Republican hands, could be determined in if both Georgia races go to runoffs.
In Tuesday’s special election, appointed Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler finished second in a “jungle primary” to Democrat Raphael Warnock.
The winner of that runoff, also on Jan. 5, will fill the remaining two years of former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term.
Biden (56 percent) and Ossoff (54 percent) won Cobb, and Warnock was the top vote-getter in the county in his race (37 percent).
Like Biden, Ossoff has been able to close with absentee votes from metro Atlanta and other strong Democratic parts of the state.
On Thursday afternoon Ossoff’s campaign manager, Ellen Foster, sent out a statement saying that “the votes are still being counted, but we are confident that Jon Ossoff’s historic performance in Georgia has forced Senator David Perdue to continue defending his indefensible record of unemployment, disease, and corruption.”
Perdue hasn’t responded directly to the prospects of facing a runoff; instead he went on social media Thursday, commenting on the presidential race, and saying that if “every lawful vote cast should be counted, once,” Trump will be re-elected.
Some pro-Trump supporters gathered at State Farm Arena in Atlanta Thursday to protest what they said was a “fix” against the president in the vote-counting.
In Thursday evening remarks at the White House, Trump claimed “we’re clearly going to win Georgia,” referring to a 117,000-vote margin he enjoyed after election-day votes were counted.
He didn’t mention the new numbers based on absentee ballots counted.
The Trump campaign and the Georgia Republican Party have filed lawsuits over the ballot-counting in the presidential race, and Trump’s campaign also was doing the same in Michigan and Pennsylvania, where mail-in ballots are being counted.
Other states that are too close to call and that are still counting are Arizona and Nevada.
“This is a fraud to the American public,” said Trump, adding that “frankly, we did win this election. . . . This is a major fraud on our nation.”
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After seeing her lead whittled to just a few hundred votes after Tuesday’s election-day votes were counted, Democrat Jerica Richardson now has a lead of 1,208 votes over Republican Fitz Johnson for the District 2 seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Richardson and Johnson are vying to succeed Republican three-term commissioner Bob Ott,, who decided not to run again.
According to figures updated Wednesday night by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, Richardson has 53,509 votes to 52,301 for Johnson.
That’s a margin of 50.57 to 49.43 percent, which would preclude a recount.
UPDATED, 5:30 P.M. THURSDAY:
Additional ballots counted have pushed Richardson’s lead to 1,224 votes (53,642 to 52,418), and a margin of 50.58 to 49.42 percent.
Recounts in Georgia are allowed if the difference between two candidates is 0.5 percent of the vote or less.
You can read through the results by clicking here. The latest numbers include mailed-in absentee ballots.
Early-voting numbers for the candidates were very close: 22,167 for Richardson, and 21,269 for Johnson.
He got 11,061 votes from in-person election-day voting, while she received 6,322.
But Richardson has been able to pull away with mail-in absentee votes.
She has received 25,020 of those, and Johnson has 19,971.
“It doesn’t look great but we just have to wait and see what happens,” said Johnson, who won the Republican nomination in similar fashion, with a razor-thin edge over Andy Smith in a runoff in August.
For details and to view precinct results, click here.
Johnson won most precincts in East Cobb and his home base in Vinings (indicated in blue on the map above), while Richardson took most of the precincts in the Cumberland-Vinings-Smyrna area (in green).
In an interview with East Cobb News, Richardson said she expected the race to be close, and credited Johnson with “running an impeccable campaign. He’s a Cobb success story and he ran a very cordial campaign.
“Yes, it was really close, and I think the community benefits from that.”
Cobb Elections had 15,000 votes to count as of Wednesday, but that number is now down to 700 remaining absentee ballots, according to a message sent Thursday morning.
On Friday, another 882 provisional ballots will be processed, along with military ballots postmarked on election days.
Voters who need to “cure” their ballots—addressing those with missing or mismatched signatures, among other things—will have that done on Friday as well.
As we noted earlier, this race will swing party control on the five-member commission from Republicans, who have had a 4-1 advantage, two Democrats, with a 3-2 split.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who defeated Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Monique Sheffield’s, her successor in South Cobb, are the other Democrats.
In January, Richardson, Cupid and Sheffield will form a board majority, joining Republicans JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb and Keli Gambrill of North Cobb.
The Cobb Board of Elections and Registration will certify all the results next Friday, Nov. 13.
The District 2 race isn’t the only nailbiter left.
In the State House District 43 seat in East Cobb, Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper leads Democrat Luisa Wakeman by 487 votes, with all but remaining absentee and provisional ballots counted.
Cooper has 15,874 votes, or 50.78 percent, to 15,387 votes for Wakeman, or 49.22 percent.
That’s even closer than Cooper’s win over Wakeman in 2018, which was by less than 800 votes.
The current numbers were updated Thursday at 9:30 a.m. If they stand, that margin of the vote also would preclude a recount.
Cooper declared victory on Wednesday, while Wakeman said she’s waiting for every vote to be counted.
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From L-R: Lisa Cupid, Craig Owens and Flynn Broady
In countywide races, Democrats swept out incumbent Republicans across the board in Cobb County general elections this week. (see previous ECN election-night post).
Commissioner Lisa Cupid defeated incumbent Republican Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission Chair race, becoming the first woman and the first African-American to hold the position.
She received 203,738 votes, or 53 percent to Boyce’s 179,375 votes or 47 percent.
Cupid led from the outset, as Democrats across the county at all levels enjoyed early and absentee voting advantages, and Boyce could never get closer than the final margin.
On Wednesday morning he conceded on his Facebook page, saying he called Cupid with a congratulatory message, “expressing my appreciation for running an issues-based campaign, and wishing her all the best in the future.
“Thank all of you for your support during my term as Chairman. It has been an honor to have served the people of Cobb County.”
Boyce was elected in 2016 after defeating then-incumbent Tim Lee in the Republican primary, but was caught up on an historic wave of Democratic support across Cobb.
Cupid also congratulated Boyce on running a “respectful” campaign and called him a “respectful colleague.”
She told supporters that “this was a campaign about moving Cobb forward together. Whether you voted for me or didn’t, whether you voted at all, my aim is to serve everyone the same. My goal is to move the whole county forward and make this an ever better place to live for everyone.”
Cupid said announcements will be forthcoming “as we begin the collaborative process of embarking on this new chapter in Cobb’s history.”
The Democratic wave also swept out of office Republican Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren, who lost to Cobb Police Major Craig Owens.
Owens got 202,272 votes, or 54 percent, to 167,472 votes, or 45 percent for Warren, who has been in office since 1994. But recently he came under fire for a series of deaths at the Cobb County Jail that have prompted an investigation by the Cobb District Attorney’s Office.
That office will have a new top prosecutor after the elections. Republican Joyette Holmes, who was appointed last year to succeed current GBI director Vic Reynolds, lost to Democrat Flynn Broady, an assistant Cobb solicitor.
Broady, who ran unsuccessfully for the 11th Congressional District seat in 2018, edged Holmes by a 187,708-180,990 vote count, or 51-49 percent.
Early Wednesday morning Broady said in a statement that “I will use restorative practices, not punitive, while acting as District Attorney for Cobb County and I will ensure the fair treatment of all people.”
In the final weeks before the campaign, he had pushed for Holmes to investigate the death of Vincent Truitt, a 17-year-old who was shot in the back and killed by a Cobb police officer in July.
Democrats also claimed victory for Cobb Superior Court Clerk. Connie Taylor defeated Republican incumbent Rebecca Keaton 51-48 percent.
Cobb voters overwhelmingly approved another Cobb Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax with 66 percent of the vote. The new sales tax period will begin in 2022 and will last for six years.
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Democrat Luisa Wakeman (center) led State Rep. Sharon Cooper in the District 43 State House race before the GOP incumbent edged ahead late. (ECN photos)
This will be the final update of the evening; we’ll have more coverage later Wednesday as final absentee and provisional ballots are still to be counted.
East Cobb News also will be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, please click here.
Party control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners could be switching over to Democrats.
Shortly after midnight, Democrat Jerica Richardson held a 109-vote lead over Republican Fitz Johnson, 33,971-33,862.
But with 100 percent of the precincts reporting, she now holds a lead of 41,169 to 37,951, with absentee and other late ballots still to be counted.
They’re seeking to succeed retiring Republican commissioner Bob Ott.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid appears headed to victory over Republican incumbent Mike Boyce for Cobb Commission Chair.
With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Cupid has 171,074 votes to 156,005, or 52-47 percent.
Cupid would be the first Democrat to hold that position since Ernest Barrett in 1984.
Republicans currently have a 4-1 advantage on the commission, with Cupid the only Democrat. Her successor in District 4 in South Cobb, Monique Sheffield, is a Democrat.
Control of the Cobb Board of Education also was on the line.
Republican incumbent David Banks has 23,672 votes in the Post 5 race in East Cobb (Pope and Lassiter clusters), while Democrat Julia Hurtado had 21,634 votes with 100 percent of the precincts reporting.
Two other Republican incumbents also were seeking re-election. Randy Scamihorn appears headed to victory, and current chairman Brad Wheeler had trailed his Democratic challenger by less than 200 votes.
But he took a lead of less than 2,000 votes early Wednesday.
Going into the elections, Republican held a 4-3 majority on the school board.
Another race that’s too close to call is the State House District 43 race in East Cobb. Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper had trailed Democrat Luisa Wakeman by five votes, 9,679, to 9,674.
Wakeman has stretched her lead, and has 10,417 votes to 9,995 for Cooper.
All other East Cobb legislative incumbents were leading their races early Wednesday, after trailing before election-day votes came in.
Vote-counting is still going on in other metro Atlanta counties, so statewide races, some Congressional races and and the presidential race still haven’t been determined.
President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 53-42 in Georgia, although Biden leads in Cobb 55-42 percent.
U.S. Sen David Perdue leads Democrat Jon Ossoff 52-45 percent.
The U.S. Senate seat that’s in a jungle primary appears headed for a runoff. Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler has 27 percent and Democrat Raphael Warnock has 29 percent.
Republican Congressman Doug Collins, who has 23 percent, has conceded and has offered his support to Loeffler. The runoff will be on Jan. 5, 2021, and the winner will fill the remaining two years of Johnny Isakson’s term.
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat, looks to have won re-election over Republican Karen Handel, whom she beat in 2018, in the 6th Congressional District race.
McBath led 54-45 percent with 50 percent of the precincts reporting, as votes from Fulton and DeKalb counties still hadn’t been counted.
Longtime Cobb Sheriff Neil Warren appeared headed for defeat by Democrat Craig Owens, a former officer in the Cobb Police Department.
Joyette Holmes, a Republican appointed Cobb District Attorney last year, also was trailing by 3,699 votes to Democrat Flynn Broady, an assistant Cobb solicitor.
The Cobb SPLOST was resoundingly renewed by voters, with “yes” votes totaling 66 percent.
All the results are unofficial pending certification by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration.
UPDATED, 11:30 P.M.
With 80 percent of Cobb precincts reporting, Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid leads Republican incumbent Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission chair’s race 52-48 percent, by around 11,400 votes.
The District 2 race for Cobb Board of Commissioners is a virtual dead heat, also with 80 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrat Jerica Richardson’s lead has been reduced to 674 votes, or 50.5 percent to 49.4 percent, over Republican Fitz Johnson.
She has 32,856 votes to 32,182 for Johnson. With late absentee ballots still to be counted, this race may not be determined until Wednesday at the earliest.
In the Post 5 race for Cobb Board of Education, Republican incumbent David Banks has a 52-48 percent lead over Democrat Julia Hurtado.
Banks has 23,399 votes to 21,509 for Hurtado. Two other school board Republican incumbents have bigger leads over Democratic challengers, so the GOP’s 4-3 majority on the school board for now looks like it will remain.
Another close race in East Cobb is in State House District 43. Republican Rep. Sharon Cooper, who has trailed all evening, is 210 points behind Democrat Luisa Wakeman, 9,488-9,288.
Republican Sen. David Perdue was leading Democrat Jon Ossoff 54-43 percent, with metro Atlanta counties still to report.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath continues to lead Karen Handel in the 6th Congressional District race 54-45 percent.
President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden in Georgia’s presidential voting by 54-45, although again metro Atlanta counties have not yet reported.
UPDATED, 10:30 P.M.
With nearly half of all Cobb precincts reporting, some of the key races we’re looking at are starting to tighten.
Democratic commissioner Lisa Cupid leads Republican incumbent Mike Boyce in the Cobb Commission chair’s race, but her margin has been reduced to 53-46 percent, or a 14,000-vote lead, with 51 percent of precincts reporting.
In Cobb Commission District 2, Democrat Jerica Richardson’s lead over Republican Fitz Johnson also has been cut. With 51 percent reporting, she’s up by less than 3,000 votes, or 52.-47 percent.
The Cobb Board of Education Post 5 race also has closed. Republican incumbent David Banks has gone ahead of Democrat Julia Hurtado by less than 400 votes, or 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent, with 55 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrats lead Republican incumbents in the Sheriff and District Attorney’s race, but those margins are getting smaller as more election-day results come in. Both races have 51 percent of precincts reporting.
Democrat Flynn Broady leads Republican incumbent Joyette Holmes only by 51-48 percent, or less than 6,000 votes, for District Attorney. Longtime Republican sheriff Neil Warren trails Democrat Craig Owens 55-44 percent.
In East Cobb legislative races, Republican State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick is pulling away from Democrat Christine Triebsch 54-45 percent in District 32.
Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper is closing on Democrat Luisa Wakeman, who leads 51-47 percent in District 43.
Two other East Cobb Republican incumbents, State Rep. Matt Dollar of District 45 and Don Parsons of District 44, have pulled ahead of their Democratic foes.
Republican State Rep. John Carson of District 46 is cruising to re-election, leading Democrat Caroline Holko 61-39 percent.
Democratic State Rep. Mary Frances Williams continues to hold a solid lead over Republican Rose Wing, 55-44 percent, in District 37.
East Cobb News will be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, please click here.
UPDATED, 9:05 P.M.
Election-day results are starting to trickle in, and a combination of early and absentee ballots have Democrats in the lead in a number of races.
You can follow real-time updates at the links below.
Lisa Cupid has 58 percent of that vote in the Cobb Commission Chair race, with incumbent chairman Mike Boyce at 42 percent.
In Cobb Commission District 2, Democrat Jerica Richardson leads Republican Fitz Johnson 55-44 percent, and in Cobb Board of Education Post 5, Democrat Julia Hurtado is ahead of Republican incumbent David Banks 56-44 percent.
Similar trends are playing out in countywide races for Sheriff, District Attorney and Superior Court Clerk, as Republican incumbents are trailing their Democratic challengers for now.
Likewise in the state legislative seats in East Cobb, where the only Republican incumbent, State Rep. John Carson of District 46, has a lead at this stage.
Across Georgia, 43 of 159 counties have reported, many of them in rural parts of Georgia where Republicans are strong.
President Donald Trump leads Joe Biden 57-42 percent, and U.S. Sen. David Perdue leads Jon Ossoff 57-40 percent.
In the other U.S. Senate race, a jungle primary has Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler surging ahead of Democrat Raphael Warnock, 29-27 percent, and Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Collins has 24 percent.
In the 6th Congressional race, Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath leads her predecessor, Republican Karen Handel, 60-39 percent.
But again, full metro Atlanta returns are a long way from being reported.
ORIGINAL POST, 7:01 P.M.
The polls have closed in Georgia, and the counting has begun for the 2020 general election.
Voters who were in line by 7 p.m. Tuesday will be able to vote. Voters in the Sope Creek 2 precinct in East Cobb who were in line by 7:20 p.m. also will be able to vote.
A judge approved a time extension Tuesday afternoon at that polling station at Sope Creek Elementary School because the poll manager arrived 20 minutes late this morning.
Absentee ballots that were left in the 16 designated drop boxes in Cobb County also were collected at 7 p.m.
East Cobb News will continuously update this post all evening with results from local, state and federal races.
Early voting results have been posted, and in Cobb they generally show Democrats with the lead at all levels—federal, state and local.
Some polling stations in Cobb had lines when the polls opened at 7 a.m., but otherwise, there were few lines and little waiting at the county’s 145 precincts.
Cobb Elections said 58 percent of the county’s roughly 540,000 registered voters cast absentee ballots or voted during the early-voting period.
Voters were selecting seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners (chairman and District 2), three Cobb Board of Education seats (including Post 5 in East Cobb), all state legislative seats, both U.S. Senate seats, the 6th Congressional District and president.
Countywide races for Sheriff and District Attorney are also on the ballot, as is a 6-year renewal of the Cobb Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).
Typically early voting and absentee figures are tallied first, followed by same-day voting results and more recent absentee votes.
Earlier absentee ballots are expected to be counted rather quickly, as they have been processed to prepare for tabulation when the polls close.
While we await full we’ll results, we’ll post early voting and absentee figures as they are revealed.
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The Vitt family, which has been operating the Aurelio’s Is Pizza location at Market Plaza in East Cobb (1255 Johnson Ferry Road, next to Red Sky), has announced the restaurant was closing.
The announcement was made on Monday, the same day the doors closed for good:
We want to offer our sincere thanks for your support. We thank you for your continued business over these last few months.
It is with great regret that we must inform you that we will be closing the Marietta Aurelio’s, as of today.
We have enjoyed our time running Aurelio’s of Marietta and considered it a pleasure to be a part of so many family memories.
We loved making your perfect pizza recipes, and we will miss it very much! Thank you for the support. We will miss you all.
Paul Vitt, a native of the Chicago area, opened the Chicago-style franchise on Johnson Ferry Road in June 2011.
The reaction from customers—more than 200 comments and running—was overwhelming, a mix of sadness, shock and gratitude for what for many was their favorite local pizzeria:
“I am heartbroken, it was a good run Mr. Vitt, wish you the best my friend…..thanks for the memories and the best pie ever…”
“My family and I moved here from Chicago. The Marietta Aurelio’s gave us a little taste of home. It will be very much missed.”
“This is our favorite pizza place and this is a big loss for East Cobb.”
“This may be the very worst news of 2020 and that is saying something. We are devastated that you’re going!!”
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To click details of each ZIP code and to view a similar map of COVID deaths in Cobb, click here.
By the end of October, 96 deaths from COVID-19 had been reported in East Cobb ZIP codes, and there have been 5,000 confirmed cases of the virus.
Data compiled by Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott and the Georgia Department of Health reflect another rise in the rate of confirmed COVID cases as colder weather approaches.
As of Monday afternoon, there were 22,430 confirmed cases in Cobb County and 460 deaths.
The latter is the second-highest figure in Georgia, as it’s been for a while, with Fulton County having 628 deaths.
What’s causing renewed concern is a resurgence of what public health officials call “community spread.”
When we last posted in early September about those metrics—used by the Cobb County School District to determine when, and how, to reopen for classes—Cobb had just ducked under the “high community spread” designation.
That’s a 14-day average of 100 cases per 100,000 or less, after Cobb’s number was nearly 400 during the summer spike and prompted the Cobb school district’s decision to start the school year online-only.
But that dipping point hasn’t lasted long.
As of Tuesday, Cobb’s 14-day average is now 151 cases per 100,000, and that’s a jump from around 120 just last week.
(You can read the Georgia DPH daily status report by clicking here; it’s updated daily at 3 p.m.)
The above map breaks down COVID cases by ZIP Code, and was last updated Oct. 31. Ott said he’s doing this once a week because the numbers don’t change that much.
You can click here to get more details and to switch to a COVID deaths map that also shows COVID data in long-term care homes.
Here’s what those numbers look like in East Cobb for the moment:
30062: 1,499 cases, 23 deaths
30066: 1,364 cases, 24 deaths
30067: 1,336 cases, 15
30068: 741 cases, 32
30075: 154 cases, 2 deaths
The Cobb school district provides a weekly update of COVID cases, and last week there were nine schools in East Cobb where staff or students had confirmed cases.
By early September the 7-day moving average of cases in Cobb County began to drop, going by what’s called “date of onset.” That’s data showing the date of a confirmed case, not the day it was reported.
That average (seen in the yellow line below) fell from 108 to 55 by the end of September, and as of Oct. 20 is at 68.4. Onset numbers since that 14-day window are considered preliminary and are occasionally updated with later reports.
To view more details from the Georgia DPH daily status report, click here.
Similar data from Georgia DPH about deaths in Cobb County shows a similar pattern. In late September, the 7-day moving average of deaths according to the date of death had reached zero, after being as high as 4.9 in July.
As of Oct. 20, that 7-day figure was 0.6, after having been at 1.1 on Oct. 7.
As has been the case since the summer, the vast majority of confirmed COVID-19 cases are being reported between the ages of 18-59 (as shown below, with data compiled by Ott).
A little deeper into the numbers among the youngest ones, with some school-age breakdowns:
There have been 213 cases between 0-4 years old; 306 cases between 5-9 years old; and 1,097 cases between 10-17 years old.
Only two deaths have been reported in Cobb between the ages of 0-17 years old.
The deaths remain overwhelmingly among those who are older and/or who have multiple serious health issues.
Of the 460 deaths in Cobb, 340 are among those ages 70 and older, and 384 had known comorbidities.
On Tuesday Georgia will reach another milestone. As of Monday there have been 7,999 COVID-19 deaths in the state, and 362,921 cases.
Cobb County Government also has its own COVID hub with data, maps and other details of deaths, cases, hospitalization and demographic information relating to the virus.
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!
On Tuesday voters will be going to the polls in the 2020 General Election that’s already seen record turnout for early and absentee balloting in Cobb County and Georgia.
This East Cobb Election Day post rounds up everything we’ve put together before you head to your precinct—if you haven’t already voted.
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at all precincts.
If you have an absentee ballot, that must be dropped off at a designated drop box location by 7 p.m. It’s too late to put it in the mail, because all ballots have to be received by Cobb Elections by 7 p.m. in order to be counted (more info about this below).
For voters in East Cobb, there’s a full slate of competitive races at every level—local, state and federal.
Georgia and Cobb have become battlegrounds in the presidential sweepstakes, and candidates in both U.S. Senate races have been heavily courting voters in the county.
Cobb Elections said 174,379 people voted during the three-week early voting period that ended Friday, and it has received 135,633 of 181,861 absentee ballots requested.
Democrats cut into East Cobb’s Republican stronghold in 2018 and are vying for more, including possible control of the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the Cobb Board of Education.
Republican Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce is seeking a second term against commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb. She could become the first female and African-American to head the county government, as well as the first Democrat since Ernest Barrett in 1984.
In the race to succeed retiring District 2 commissioner Bob Ott, Republican Fitz Johnson and Democrat Jerica Richardson are both seeking their first stint in public office.
Another political newcomer, Democrat Julia Hurtado, is challenging three-term Republican school board member David Banks in Post 5, which includes the Pope and Lassiter clusters.
Legislative races in East Cobb that previously had little competition will be contested everywhere, including some rematches from 2018.
Democrats need to flip 16 seats in the House to gain control, and one of the most closely-watched races is in District 43. Longtime Republican State Rep. Sharon Cooper is facing Democrat Luisa Wakeman, who nearly beat her two years ago.
In the District 45 race, Republican State Rep. Matt Dollar, the sponsor of an East Cobb cityhood bill last year, is facing first-time candidate Sara Tindall Ghazal, a former voter protection director for the Georgia Democratic Party.
Another 2018 rematch is in store in the 6th Congressional District, where Republican Karen Handel is trying to regain the seat she lost to Democrat Lucy McBath.
Since the 2018 election, a number of precinct changes have been made as Cobb Elections is gradually moving away from schools.
Here’s a list of precinct changes since last year. Most recently, the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) was designated the polling station for the Powers Ferry 1 precinct. The Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) is the venue for the Simpson 1 precinct.
On Friday, Cobb Elections said that the Elizabeth 5 polling station at Sandy Plains Baptist Church would be unavailable due to damage from Hurricane Zeta. Voters in that precinct should go to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (2922 Sandy Plains Road), which is also the Sandy Plains 1 precinct.
If you’re going to your precinct on Tuesday, Cobb Elections is asking you to remember four things before you come:
Check your polling location at the “My Voter Page” at the Georgia Secretary of State website;
Bring a photo ID;
If you received an absentee ballot but want to vote in person, bring the absentee ballot. It must be cancelled before you can vote at the polls;
Voters must wear masks and should expect socially-distant lines.
If you’re voting in the morning, you may want to bundle up. Tuesday’s expected to be bright and sunny, but temperatures will be in the high 30s when the polls open. It’ll get warmer, into the mid-50s around noon, and then rise to the low 60s by mid-afternoon.
If you are in line by 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.
If you’re dropping off an absentee ballot, here are the locations. In East Cobb, they’re located at the following:
East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
Remember: Absentee ballots must be dropped off by 7 p.m., when the polls close. All but the Gritters Library are being used as precincts, so expect traffic bottlenecks.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of your absentee ballot after you have returned it.
FOLLOW ELECTION COVERAGE
East Cobb News will provide continuing coverage all day and evening on Tuesday, as well as the rest of the week, given the high turnout and time needed to count absentee ballots.
If you have questions about voting, or photos or impressions to share of your experience at the polls, let us know: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
We’ll also be sending out a special election newsletter on Wednesday. If you’re not a subscriber and you’d like to sign up, click the link below.
We’ll have much more detailed coverage in our Sunday edition of the newsletter.
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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!
The Good Mews Animal Foundation of East Cobb is among the CARES Act not-for-profit recipients.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners has approved federal CARES Act funding totaling $842,500 for 68 non-for-profit organizations in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organizations were recommended by SelectCobb, the economic development arm of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, and will receive grant funding for personnel and operational expenses.
They include community service organizations, animal welfare groups, special-education schools and arts entities.
The cash grants range from $2,500 to $25,000, and will go organizations that are locally-operated. They include the following:
$25,000
MUST Ministries
Nobis Works
$20,000
MDE School of East Cobb
liveSAFE Resources Inc.
$15,000
The Georgia Ballet Inc.
The Center for Family Resources
The Extension
Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Metro Atlanta
Good Mews Animal Foundation
Friends of the Strand
Davis Direction Foundation
$10,000
Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art
Mostly Mutts Animal Rescue & Adoption
Food Security of America
Curing Kids Cancer Inc.
$2,500
Cobb Landmarks & Historical Society
Family Promise Cobb County
Marietta Police Athletic League
The full list of recipients can be found here. In July commissioners approved $2 million for the not-for-profits; all CARES Act funding must be designated and distributed by Dec. 31.
Commissioners also voted last week to allocate an additional $57,864 in emergency food funding from the CARES Act to 25 Cobb organizations, including MUST, the Noonday Baptist Association and the YMCA of Metro Atlanta.
Each organization will receive $2,314 and the full list can be found here.
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!
High school students who chose to face-to-face instruction for the fall semester will return to campuses on Thursday in the Cobb County School District, the final phase of the district’s reopening plans.
At the same time, the district announced that the period for signing up for learning options for the spring semester will take place between Nov. 15-29.
Parents can choose remote or face-to-face as they did in the fall semester, but once that choice is made their children must stick with that selection.
As the 2020-21 school year heads into the second semester, Cobb Schools is making preparations to continue teaching and learning in a safe and healthy environment. Just as in the Fall, families will have the opportunity to choose the environment that works best for them: face-to-face or remote learning.
The district is saying that “specific instructions, including login directions, will be provided to parents before the choice window opens.”
Parents are asked to visit the district’s Learning Everywhere portal to guide their decisions, including sample learning schedules, learning models, meal plans, transportation, after-school programs, enhanced health and safety protocols, and expectations for students and teachers.
Data released by the district before students returned to classes indicated that 52 percent of all students chose face-to-face learning, including 58 percent in elementary school, 54 percent in middle school and 42 percent in high school.
Two high schools in East Cobb reported the highest percentage of students who will be going back to classrooms: Pope (70.6 percent) and Lassiter (63.3 percent).
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!
On Saturday the East Cobb-based United Military Care organization will be holding a free barbecue lunch for veterans, and this year it’s going to be a drive-through event.
The pickup period takes place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at their offices (1220 Canton Road, across from the Olde Mill Shopping Center) and you can sign up by calling 770-973-0014 or by e-mailing peggyb@unitedmilitarycare.org.
Proof of veteran status is required when you pick up your food. Non-veterans can purchase meals for $10 to help fund programs to help veterans in crisis. Volunteers will be holding signs thanking veterans for their service.
Last year we visited United Military Care at its Veterans Day event and wrote about the organization’s efforts to provide food, financial, housing and other assistance to veterans in need.
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!
More stunning devastation of Thursday’s storms from Hurricane Zeta:
Rachel Curry sent these photos of a tree that demolished two-thirds of her Northeast Cobb home, which has been condemned.
She said the 16,000-pound tree made a direct hit on the structure around 4:30 a.m. :
“The interior is crushed sheetrock, fallen attic rafters, and insulation everywhere along with a crack in the main floor joist. We are just grateful to be safe.”
She and her family are staying for now in a hotel with their pets, and Curry said an insurance adjustor is coming Tuesday to see if the house will have to be totalled.
Earlier on Saturday we heard from Tracy Cullo, a homeowner in the Mountain Creek neighborhood, and whose house was also hit by a tree, barely avoiding slamming into one of her daughters’ bedrooms.
Everyone is safe there too.
Send us information about conditions in your area, and photos to share, if it’s safe for you to do so: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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 last day of early voting in East Cobb was like the first day—featuring long lines. (ECN photos)
The deluge is almost over.
The inane commercials—a candidate is being demonized because as a defense attorney he represents criminals!
The race-horse punditry of polls, soundbites, “October surprises” and dubious partisan narratives as deep (and dreary) as battlefield trenches.
The mailboxes stuffed with flyers, a constant flurry of text messages, e-mails (some with emojis!), phone calls and knocks on doors, soliciting, above all, whatever donation amount you can afford!
The sledgehammer assault and sensory overload that’s been waged upon the citizenry for months now just to vote has been unprecedented.
Republicans wave at motorists to honk support at Shallowford and Sandy Plains Road Saturday.
By party hacks and campaign toadies, democracy mavens and corporate virtue-signalers, celebrities, athletes, famous people and everyday folk who need you to vote a certain way so they can have health care, a job, the right to vote and their lives back from sinister forces that have conspired against them for far too long.
Companies, sports teams, non-profits and other institutions will be taking off all of election day to exercise their franchise on Tuesday. And they’ll let you know ceaselessly, especially on their social media feeds.
If you believe the overheated rhetoric, in just a few days’ time we will be conducting the most important election of our lifetime!
By my count, this has been the case for at least the last 20 years, when a bitter presidential election was determined by a single vote in the U.S. Supreme Court—after a farcical episode of butterfly ballots and hanging chads in Florida.
Another epic—and ridiculously expensive—presidential campaign is commanding much of the oxygen this fall, with two aging boomers striving to goad outdated and increasingly polarized party bases to turn out like never before.
Yard signs for local Democratic candidates in an East Cobb neighborhood.
For the vast majority of us who don’t fall into either tribalized camp, this feels like the most dispiriting election of our lifetime.
We’ve been ready for this to be over for months, and not because we don’t think elections are important.
They are. But what comes after them is even more important.
Whether you’ve already voted or will do so on Tuesday, exercising your franchise is the easiest part of citizenship. It’s purely transactional, with no further commitment to follow the exploits of those elected to serve us.
Nearly 60 percent of Cobb’s nearly 540,000 registered voters have already cast their ballots, and it’s roughly 50-50 between those voting in person and those mailing in or dropping off absentee ballots.
Two U.S. Senate races in Georgia, a battleground election in the 6th Congressional District and several high-priority legislative races in East Cobb are driving the turnout as much as the presidential race.
So are vigorous races for seats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners and the Cobb Board of Education that could result in Democrats taking control of both.
In East Cobb, where Republicans have dominated for decades, Democrats are contesting everything, including races where GOP incumbents rarely had to worry about any kind of a challenge.
Whatever your politics may be, it’s good to see more candidates running in either major party, especially those who have never sought elective office, and who are younger and represent an upcoming generation pining to make a difference.
The State House District 43 race in East Cobb is one of the most expensive legislative campaigns in the state this year.
What happens here at home—in the Georgia legislature, the halls of Cobb County government and on the increasingly fractious Cobb school board—has never mattered more.
As the last eight months have shown, decisions by state and local elected officials or appointed leaders serving at their pleasure have affected every single aspect of life for every single citizen.
The response to COVID-19 in Georgia and Cobb County will last for many months, if not years, to come.
Whatever you think of how the pandemic has been handled, keep in mind that all of these decisions—to force businesses and schools to close or go online, restrict public gatherings, curtail civil liberties and deprive us of many of the activities that make life worth living—were done without any public discussion, votes by elected bodies or the consent of the governed.
The landslide winner in this year’s batch of canned political flyer photos—front-line medical workers.
In Georgia, as in every other state and many nations of the world, once a public health emergency was declared, decisions affecting nearly every single aspect of society were made outside of the usual democratic channels, heavily based on guidance by unelected public health advisers.
This cannot and should not continue indefinitely. There need to be specific goals and objectives that are made clear to citizens, not continuously extended emergency declarations.
It’s incumbent upon governors, mayors, county officials and school superintendents to weigh the cost-benefit factors of a COVID response that considers the economy, education, and social well-being of all citizens as well as public health.
If you haven’t yet voted, think about whom you would trust to make these decisions in the future. Regardless of how you voted—or didn’t—the most serious obligation all citizens have is to hold these leaders to account.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee demonstrates a perverse method of getting people to vote.
Even if you’re politically homeless like I am—my first vote for president was the Republican Congressman-turned-independent John Anderson in 1980—the supposed perils of not voting are being used to humiliate you publicly.
Among the most noxious items in this year’s political mailbag was not one, but two flyers from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, reminding me that I didn’t vote in 2018.
I’m not embarrassed by that, but this is a particularly slimy way to shame people into voting: Mailing you a flyer anyone can read and assigning you a “voter score” that is “average” and won’t cut it in their minds. As though any voter has an obligation to meet the muster of a partisan political action committee that sent an unsolicited mailing.
The second flyer was even more galling, saying that in order “to improve your voting record” I must vote. “Remember: Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public record.”
This from a political party that has made “voter protection” a major part of its agenda.
If I hadn’t voted before I got these flyers, I would have made sure that anybody I did vote for would work to change laws like this. Whether or not you vote ought to be nobody else’s damn business any more than whom you voted for—or against.
Such are the stakes of an election that’s gone on seemingly forever, and may last well after election day.
Many of those hopelessly, shamelessly obsessed with getting you to vote will soon skunk away, at least until the next election. Those of us more concerned with what those elected to office will do with their power have never had a more daunting task.
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!
Two established members of the Georgia House Republican leadership and a Democrat who unseated a GOP incumbent two years ago are all facing opponents in the Nov. 3 general election.
The latter is first-term State Rep. Mary Frances Williams, of the 37th District, who is facing Rose Wing, the former head of the Cobb Republican Party.
In 2018 Williams upended Rep. Sam Teasley in a tight race, then withstood a recount to break an all-Republican roster of state representatives with East Cobb constituencies.
Wing, who was defeated as Cobb GOP president after the 2016 elections, is making her first run for public office.
Both candidates are residents of the city of Marietta, which makes up most of the district. It includes an area of East Cobb along Piedmont and East Piedmont roads, down to Barnes Mill Road and east of Interstate 75 (map here).
During her first term, Williams sponsored legislation requiring the release of audio and video law enforcement body camera recordings and supports repealing “Stand Your Ground” laws.
A former lobbyist for education and children’s issues, Williams said the state’s response to COVID-19 is her top priority, and she supports Medicaid expansion and measures to curb surprise medical billing.
Wing, a retired former prosecutor in the Cobb District Attorney’s Office, said she wants to promote conservative values, especially keeping taxes low to spur business and economic growth and to “protect an environment for local businesses to succeed.”
The daughter of a teacher, Wing also said her priorities include COVID response and strengthening public education and public safety.
State House District 44
First elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1994, State Rep. Don Parsons has a Democratic opponent for the second consecutive election.
The district stretches from Wade Green Road to Hembree Road (map here).
Parsons, a Republican, is chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee and also serves on the Appropriations and Ways & Means committees.
Parsons is touting that experience, along with what he said is his commitment to fiscal responsibility, including tax cuts. He also voted for Hate Crimes legislation the last two years
He supported a bill that would extend hate-crime protections for police officers and other enforcement personnel who are threatened, harassed or intimidated because they are first responders. That bill was signed by the governor and becomes law next year.
Running against Parsons is Connie DiCicco, a former chief of staff for Mary Frances Williams.
A parent in the Addison Elementary School area, she said her priorities include improving health care access, including Medicaid expansion, better funding for public education, environmental justice and protecting voting rights.
DiCicco also supports “common sense” reforms to encourage gun safety and while she advocated the main Hate Crimes bill that passed last session, she said “Georgia still has a long way to go to end systemic racism in our justice system.”
State House District 46
Since winning a special election in 2011, State Rep. John Carson has risen quicky in the ranks of House Republican leadership.
District 44 includes the northeast corner of Cobb and part of southern Cherokee County (map here).
He’s vice chairman of the Transportation, Ways & Means and Energy, Utility and Telecommunications subcommittees.
A certified public accountant, Carson stresses a platform with low taxes, including eliminating state corporate income taxes, and he opposes Obamacare.
He has voted for a public school teacher pay raise but also has sponsored legislation to allow for a tax credit for private school tuition.
His Democratic opponent is Caroline Holko, who got 48 percent of the vote against District 3 incumbent Joann Birrell in a run for the Cobb Board of Commissioners in 2018.
Her priorities are Medicaid expansion, voter protection, what she calls reproductive and environmental justice, full funding of public education and legalizing cannabis in Georgia.
Holko, who is a supporter of unabashed liberal causes, has had to explain during her campaign using a racial slur a decade ago in a blog post about black males and crime.
In September, on her campaign blog, she wrote that that 2009 blog post “was written in ignorance and anger” and that “my position has drastically changed since then.”
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A reader let us know about two trees at the Mt. Bethel church cemetery that were uprooted during the Zeta storm Thursday, and damaged some graves there.
We took a look on Friday, and it was a stunning sight—a massive tree was pulled out of the ground, toppled over and struck a number of markers. A smaller tree also caused extensive damage.
The cemetery is located on Johnson Ferry Road, just above Lower Roswell Road, and between a Zaxby’s and the Northside medical building.
That’s near where the second location of the church, which dates back to the 1830s, once stood. The cemetery along Johnson Ferry opened in 1870, when the church moved to two acres donated by a nearby farmer.
The original cemetery still exists at the original church site on Richmond Hill Road, off Lower Roswell Road and east of Johnson Ferry, going back to the 1840s.
Some of the markers damaged at the Johnson Ferry cemetery are so old that there’s nothing legible on them. Family names we could make out include Bloodworth, Darnell and Tillerson.
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Cobb Elections announced Friday afternoon that an “emergency” change has been made for the venue for the Elizabeth 05 voting precinct in Tuesday’s general election.
The precinct is located at Sandy Plains Baptist Church, but county spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a release that storm damage from Hurricane Zeta has prompted the change.
The polling station on Tuesday will be just up the road at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church (2922 Sandy Plains Road), in the photo above. It’s located next to a U.S. Post Office and is at the intersection of Sandy Plains and Ebenezer Road.
The polls at all precincts in Cobb County will be open Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Early voting concluded on Friday and there is no in-person voting until Tuesday.
Voters with absentee ballots have until 7 p.m. Tuesday to have them postmarked if they’re mailed, or to drop them at a designated secure absentee ballot drop box.
Those 16 absentee ballot locations in the county (listings here) are available 24/7 until the polls close.
In East Cobb those drop boxes are located at the following:
East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of that ballot after you return your ballot.
If you have an absentee ballot but wish to vote in-person on Tuesday, bring your absentee ballot with you to your precinct and it will be cancelled there. That must be done before you can vote in-person.
There are cancellation instructions that can be found here. If you don’t have your ballot with you when you arrive at the poll on the Nov. 3 election day, you’ll have to fill out an affidavit and poll workers will have to call the Cobb Elections office to have the ballot cancelled.
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The Cobb County School District is reporting 61 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 this week, including seven schools in East Cobb that previously had no cases.
According to the district’s weekly update on Friday, confirmed cases among staff and students were reported in 30 schools.
That’s the most in any week since the district began revealing weekly updates in September.
Overall there have been 443 confirmed cases since July 1.
All of the schools reporting cases this week have 10 or fewer cases, as has been the case since the district began breaking down the numbers. Those breakdowns don’t indicate how many students and how many staff members have confirmed cases.
The East Cobb schools reporting cases this week are as follows:
Bells Ferry ES
Brumby ES
East Side ES
Murdock ES
Powers Ferry ES
Shallowford Falls ES
Tritt ES
Daniell MS
East Cobb MS
This is the third time that COVID cases have been reported at Shallowford Falls and the second time for Powers Ferry.
Middle school students returned to in-person classes in Cobb last week, and high school students will be coming back Nov. 5.
The district also said this week there is a confirmed COVID case within the Pope High School football program. The Greyhounds’ varsity games this week and next have been cancelled, all football activities have been suspended and contact-tracing has been taking place.
The rate of reported COVID-19 cases has been edging upward in recent weeks in Georgia, including in Cobb County. At one point the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 population dropped just below 100, which is considered high community spread.
As of Thursday, that two-week figure is 129 cases per 100,000 people. That’s been a key metric used by Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale. He ordered the start of the school year to be all online when that average was in the 300-400 range, then called for a phased reopening when the average dropped between 100-200.
Cobb has had 22,059 cases of COVID-19 since March and 457 deaths.
In explaining its COVID reporting procedures, the Cobb school district said that in accordance with student and health privacy laws, “the Georgia Department of Public Health recommends refraining from publicly publishing numbers of cases or quarantined students or staff that are less than 10 unless the number is 0.”
Cobb and Douglas Public health will “communicate confirmed cases to affected students/staff/ parents,” according to CCSD protocols.
Those guidelines also state that those who test positive “will isolate until 10 consecutive days have passed from their positive COVID-19 test and they are asymptomatic.”
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The following East Cobb food scores from Oct. 26-30 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!
