Cobb, metro Atlanta and much of north and central Georgia will be getting heavy doses of rain from Friday night through most of Saturday.
The National Weather Service in Peachtree City has issued a flood watch for those areas from 7 p.m. Friday through 10 a.m. Sunday.
The advisory states that the affected areas could receive between 2 to 5 inches of rain during that period, especially overnight Friday into Saturday, with the possibility of flooding of roads, creeks and streams, lakes and other low-lying areas.
Early Friday, the NWS issued a flood warning for Sweetwater Creek in South Cobb for Sunday. Thus far, no advisories have been issued for the areas of the Chattahoochee River near East Cobb and for nearby streams and creeks.
High temperatures Saturday will reach into the high 60s with lows around 40.
The weather will get cooler on Sunday and Monday as the rain moves out, with sunny skies and highs from the mid-50s to the low 60s and low dropping to the mid 30s.
Similar weather is in the forecast for the middle of next week, with sun and highs around 70 and lows in the mid-40s.
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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!
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 property owner of a 13-acre tract of land eyed for a high-density townhome development in Northeast Cobb didn’t appear for a first hearing before the Cobb Planning Commission Tuesday.
But the five-member zoning advisory body didn’t hesitate to recommend denial of the plans near the end of a long meeting.
Ashwani Kumar Kaura wants to rezone the undeveloped track at Alabama Road and Lindsey Way from single-family residential (R-20) to fee-simple townhome (FST).
The land is completely surrounded by detached single-family homes, and some neighbors turned out to oppose the request.
Kauna wasn’t in attendance due to what Cobb zoning staff said was an out-of-state medical emergency, but the planning board decided to hear the case since opponents were in attendance.
“There’s nothing like this in our area at all,” said one. “It’s completely out of place.”
Tom Ganschow, who lives next to the Kaura property on Fitts Drive in the Bernham Woods subdivision, said his neighborhood is diverse and is “a nice place to come and it’s quiet.”
He said Kauna proposed a 50-home subdivision on the land 20 years ago, and wondered how more than 70 homes would fit, especially since there isn’t sewer service in that area.
Zoning staff recommended denial on a number of fronts, including density, land-use, sewer and transportation.
Planning commissioner Deborah Dance quickly made a motion to recommend denial, and the vote was 5-0.
The case goes before the Cobb Board of Commissioners for the final say on March 19.
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Two candidates who announced their campaigns for the Cobb Board of Education from East Cobb nearly a year ago qualified for the 2024 primary elections on Monday.
Republican John Cristadoro and Democrat Laura Judge filed qualifying paperwork and fees at their local party offices on Monday.
They’re both parents in the Walton attendance zones, and are seeking the Post 5 seat on the school board being vacated by David Banks, a four-term Republican who is not seeking re-election.
The primary election is on May 21.
Post 5, which includes the Walton, Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is one of four school board posts on the ballot this year.
Three of those seats are held by Republicans, who have a 4-3 majority on a Cobb school board that has been strongly divided along partisan lines in recent years.
In a statement released by his campaign, Cristadoro said that “I am honored to have the opportunity to represent Walton, Wheeler, and Pope High Schools. I believe that maintaining common sense leadership for Cobb schools is paramount to the continued success of all Cobb students.”
After qualifying, Judge announced that she will be holding a fundraiser Thursday hosted by Dr. Dahlia Levine of Dentistry at East Piedmont.
Here are the respective campaign websites for Cristadoro and Judge; and you can find our at-length interviews with both candidates from last spring here and here.
They are the only announced candidates to have qualified thus far. Qualifying continues through noon Friday for Congressional, legislative and local offices across Georgia.
In Cobb, there are three seats on the Board of Commissioners on the ballot—all three currently held by Democrats.
That includes District 2, where first-term Democrat Jerica Richardson has announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District.
The Cobb Board of Elections announced Friday it would be honoring “home rule” maps that include some of East Cobb in District 2 while a legal dispute is played out before the Georgia Supreme Court.
The legislature included most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by GOP member JoAnn Birrell. But the county is appealing a ruling by a Cobb judge that said the “home rule” maps preferred by Democrats violates the Georgia Constitution.
Oral arguments before the court are scheduled for April 17, but on Monday Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger blasted the Cobb Elections map decision.
“The Cobb County Commission’s irresponsible decision to proceed with commission-drawn maps jeopardizes candidate qualifying and puts Cobb County voters at risk for disenfranchisement,” Raffensperger said in a release. “The court has already ruled that the commission must use the maps enacted by the General Assembly. Their unilateral decision will add confusion, likely errors, and unnecessary burdens on election officials at the 11th hour. This decision does not serve the people of Georgia.”
On Monday, two previously announced Democratic candidates for District 2 qualified. They are former State Rep. Erick Allen, who drew up the home rule maps that the county is using, and former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard.
William Costa of the Kennesaw area also qualified as a Democrat for District 2.
The other seats up this year include District 4 in South Cobb and the countywide-elected chair.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
Feb. 12
589 Spring Creek Way, 30068 (Spring Creek, Wheeler): $455,000
1250 East Piedmont Road, 30066 (Sprayberry): $360,000
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A 13-acre parcel of land near the corner of Northeast Cobb where it meets Roswell and Cherokee C0unty is being proposed for a 74-unit townhome development.
The request by Ashwani Kumar Kaura to rezone the property from single-family residential (R-20) to fee-simple townhome (FST) is on the agenda of Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission meeting.
But the Cobb Zoning Office is recommending denial, saying the land at Alabama Road and Lindsey Way is completely surrounded by single-family detached homes.
The 13-acre parcel is located off Alabama Road, north of Sandy Plains Road.
“It isStaff’s opinion that the applicant’s rezoning proposal will not permit a use that is suitable in view of the use and development of adjacent and nearby properties,” the staff analysis concludes. “There are single–family uses on all four sides, developed at much lower densities. The proposed homes would be out of scale and out of character with the existing single–family houses in the area.”
According to the site plan for what’s being called “Kaura Village,” the density would be 5.72 units per acre. The homes would be developed on 11.75 acres, with the rest for amenities.
There’s also no room for guest parking, which was noted by the Cobb Fire Department in its comments on the case, and other remarks indicate that sewer service is not available.
Rezoning to FST also would defy the county’s Future Land Use Map designation for medium-density residential development, according to the zoning analysis.
“For these reasons, Staff believes it appropriate to deny the request rather thandelete to a more appropriate zoning district until such time as these issues can be worked through,” the analysis stated.
According to Cobb property tax records, Kauna, the property owner, is in California.
The Cobb Planning Commission is a five-member body appointed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners that makes recommendations on zoning cases.
Its decisions are advisory; the BOC has the final say on zoning cases.
The Planning Commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), and the full agenda can be found by clicking here.
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
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!
Dr. Dhaval Desai, author of “Burning Out on the COVID Front Lines: A Doctor’s Memoir of Fatherhood, Race and Perseverance in the Pandemic,” will speak about his memoir Tuesday at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
Dr. Dhaval Desai
He will be in conversation from 6:30-8 p.m. with veteran broadcaster Jeff Hullinger about his book.
Desai, who is director of hospital medicine at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital and as a pediatric hospitalist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, writes about life during the pandemic.
“As a new father, frontline physician and healthcare leader on the brink of burnout, and a member of an ethnic minority in the South, his tale is marked by chaotic intersections,” the Cobb Public Library System said in a release. “Throughout, his commitment to fostering and advocating for caring and compassion in the practice of medicine shines as Desai shares his unique perspective.
The event is sponsored by Cobb County Public Library and Cobb Collaborative, which focuses on its Mind Your Mind mental health initiative, literacy and civic engagement.
Copies of the book will be available at for purchase from The Book Worm Bookstore and signing by the author. Dr. Desai will donate all proceeds to theDr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, which focuses on the de-stigmatization of mental health for healthcare workers and suicide awareness.
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Three locations in East Cobb are among the six venues from the Cobb County Public Library (CCPL) and Cultural Affairs Division of Cobb PARKS’ arts centers to feature quilt exhibits throughout the county in March.
They’re “challenge quilts” from an East Cobb Quilters’ Club competition, and they’ll be on exhibit from March 4-29.
The Sewell Mill Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) will exhibit all of the challenge quilts which were created in this yearly competition among guild members. The theme for 2023 was “Musical Madness” that challenged members to choose a favorite musical selection or type of music and create a quilt inspired by their choice.
This year’s winner (in photo) is “Canyon Melody” by Janice Chiaffredo, which was inspired by Native American flute songs. For more visit https://ecqg.com/quilts-on-display/.
Quilts also are on exhibit at The Art Place (3330 Sandy Plains Road) and the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).
From April 13-May 29 The Mable House Arts Center will present an exhibit as part of “Quilts on Display” that will feature award winning quilts from prior “Georgia Celebrates Quilts” shows.
“This is such an exciting year for the Guild,” East Cobb Quilters’ Guild president Devon Pfeif said.
“We are so appreciative of our strong relationships with both Cobb Libraries and Arts Centers and to have the opportunity to share our talents with the community through these exhibits. I am proud to be part of this amazing and talented group of women and men quilters.”
“Quilts On Display” exhibits lead up to Georgia’s largest continuing juried and judged quilt show, the East Cobb Quilters’ Guild “Georgia Celebrates Quilts” show with over 300 quilts by artists from all over Georgia. The show is held every other year and this year will occur June 6-8. For information visit https://www.georgiacelebratesquilts.com/.
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When qualifying for May primary elections takes place next week, the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration will honor county-approved county commission redistricting maps at the heart of a continuing legal dispute.
District 2 lines (in pink) that Cobb commission Democrats approved will be used for primary qualifying next week.
The five-member appointed elections board announced Friday that the maps to be used for qualifying for commission races will be those that were approved by the three Democrats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners in October 2022.
They did that in claiming a “home rule” exemption that a Cobb judge last month ruled was unconstitutional, and that the county is appealing.
The Georgia Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in the case on April 17, but primary ballots have to be printed well before that.
In its announcement Friday, the Cobb elections board said that while candidates in partisan races qualify via their respective local political party offices, “parties and citizens have requested guidance from the Board as to which maps are to be used for qualifying at this time when multiple redistricting lawsuits are still pending in various stages of appeal.”
The board said the “home rule map” for commission districts “remains in place because the [Cobb Superior] Court’s ruling was stayed . . . ”
The board concluded after conferring with its legal counsel that, “out of an abundance of caution, the Home Rule Map should be used and that it ‘remains ready to implement any further direction from the courts on this matter.’ ”
That decision will affect potential candidates in East Cobb.
Three seats on the county commission—the countywide-elected chair, District 4 in South Cobb and District 2 in Smyrna and parts of East Cobb—are on the 2024 ballot.
Current commissioner Jerica Richardson, a first-term Democrat, was drawn out of her East Cobb home in District 2 in maps approved in 2022 by the Republican-led Georgia legislature, which placed most of East Cobb in District 3, represented by GOP member JoAnn Birrell.
Richardson has since announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District, which includes some of south Cobb.
Five Democrats, including former Cobb legislative delegation chairman State Rep. Erick Allen and former Cobb school board member Jaha Howard, have declared their intent to run in District 2 as Democrats.
Also among the Democratic hopefuls is Kevin Redmon, a former Richardson community advisor who lives in District 3 according to the legislative-approved maps. He has declared his intent to run in districts 2 and 3.
No Republicans have announced for District 2 thus far.
New Cobb school board maps shifted the lines for Post 5 (in purple) to include Pope and Walton attendance zones and exclude some of the Wheeler zone.
The Cobb elections board statement Friday said that for Cobb Board of Education qualifying, it will honor recently redrawn maps by the legislature that were ordered by a federal court, and since there is no pending challenge to it.
Those maps redrew part of East Cobb. Post 5, which is on the ballot this year, was redrawn to include most of the Walton and Pope attendance zones, while much of the Wheeler zone was placed in Post 6. Post 4, which includes most of the Kell, Lassiter and Sprayberry zones, was not affected.
Thus far, Democrat Laura Judge and Republican John Cristadoro, both parents in the Walton zone, have announced for Post 5, where four-term Republican incumbent David Banks is not seeking re-election.
Four of the seven school board posts are up for election this year, including two of the other three posts held by Republicans. The GOP has held a 4-3 majority since 2019, while Democrats control close majorities on the commission and the county legislative delegation.
The Cobb elections board also said Friday it will honor Congressional and legislative maps passed in January and that were ordered by a federal court.
The board appointments are 4-1 Democrats, with Debbie Fisher of East Cobb the appointee of the Cobb Republican Party.
Primary qualifying takes place Monday, March 4-Thursday, March 7 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Friday, March 8, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Partisan candidates will qualify at their local party office, and non-partisan candidates will qualify at the Cobb Elections office (955 Roswell St., Marietta).
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!
Cobb County School District Superintendent Chris Ragsdale received a one-year extension to his current contract Thursday to run through Feb. 28, 2027.
Cobb Superintendent Chris Ragsdale told his critics: “Do not come after my teachers, my principals or my team.”
The Cobb Board of Education voted 4-3 along party lines to offer the extension to a contract that will continue to pay Ragsdale, who has been superintendent since 2015, a salary of $350,000 a year.
The board’s four Republicans voted in favor, the three Democrats against, following an executive session, but didn’t discuss the matter at the voting meeting Thursday night.
Ragsdale thanked the board for the “vote of confidence” but didn’t elaborate. He later launched into scathing remarks against those critical of the district’s handling of a Feb. 1 shooting in the parking lot of McEachern High School that prompted two town hall meetings.
Two former students were shot and two current students were arrested during the incident, which didn’t extend into the school buildings.
Some citizens called for public meetings to be held on school safety plans, and others wanted the removal of McEachern principal Regina Montgomery.
But Ragsdale said that the details of those plans are discussed in executive session and are not allowed to be made public. He stood by Montgomery, and said there’s a safety plan for every school, including McEachern, and that it was followed on that day.
“I find it disturbing, but not surprising, that the same people and political groups who spoke against increased security measures in our schools . . . are now the very same people screaming the loudest about not having enough resource officers.”
At that point, some in the audience began interrupting, and one person was removed from the room.
“Please sit down and quit being rude and let us conduct our business,” board chairman Randy Scamihorn said.
Melissa Marten of the Cobb Community Care Coalition has been a vocal critic of Ragsdale’s leadership.
Ragsdale continued that “you can continue to come at me with all of your lies, but do not come after my teachers, my principals or my team. They’re all too far and work too high to stoop to your level.”
Before the vote, some critics—wearing shirts that read “No Confidence in Ragsdale”—spoke out against him, complaining mostly about the McEachern situation and efforts they allege the district made to restrict public commenters at the September board meetings and that created what they said was a chaotic situation.
“This was dangerous, and they are lucky no one was seriously injured,” said Melissa Marten, leader of a group called the Cobb Community Care Coalition, which has been critical of the district on a number of issues, including what it contends is an “acceleration of racism, bigotry, and censorship in Cobb County School District.”
“We demand accountability for putting our safety at risk and for district employees wasting our tax dollars and spending their time orchestrating potential violence.
“How can we have safe schools when our schools are run by people like this?” Marten said. “The problem is right here in this room looking at you right now.”
Also on Thursday, the Cobb school board voted to approve a “guaranteed maximum price” of $14.5 million for the Sprayberry High School main campus building replacement project, and to spend $9.328 million for renovations at Blackwell Elementary School on Canton Road.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
After approving a contractor for the replacement of the main campus building at Sprayberry High School, the Cobb Board of Education will be asked Thursday to set a maximum construction cost for the project.
The board will be asked to approve a “guaranteed maximum price” of $14.5 million at a voting session Thursday night. The item will be introduced at a work session Thursday afternoon.
The board previously approved hiring Carroll Daniel Construction of Gainesville as the construction manager for the project, which is expected to get underway this summer and take around two years to complete.
The Sprayberry rebuild is one of the first major projects of the Cobb Education-VI Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax period that began collections in January.
Setting a maximum price now, according to an agenda item, will enable the contractor “to move forward procuring long-lead time equipment, sitework/utility relocation, and other enabling work” to meet the anticipated completion deadline of July 2026.
The Cobb County School District is taking out a $100 million loan from future collections in short-term tax anticipation notes (TANS) to get early projects started. The loan has to be repaid by the end of the year.
The Sprayberry main campus building that opened in 1973 will be torn down and replaced with a main classroom and office facility, the latest in a comprehensive overhaul of the Northeast Cobb campus.
A new gymnasium recently opened at Sprayberry, which also has undergone renovations to its CTAE (Career, Technology and Agricultural Education) facility.
Also on Thursday, the board will be presented with an agenda item to spend $9.328 million for renovations at Blackwell Elementary School on Canton Road.
Among the work includes roof, door, window and HVAC replacements, telephone and technology upgrades and maintenance and replacement of computing devices and equipment.
The agenda item states a recommendation for the contract is for Ward Humphrey Inc. of Marietta with an estimated completion date of July 2025.
The board is meeting in public at a 1:30 p.m. work session Thursday and a 7 p.m. business session at the Cobb County School District Central Office (514 Glover St., Marietta).
The agendas for both meetings can be found here; an executive session will take place in between and action is indicated for the voting session for personnel, land and legal matters.
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All six public high schools in East Cobb were honored in several categories Tuesday by the Georgia Department of Education as Superintendent Richard Wood designated AP Honor Schools across the state.
A total of 276 designations in 99 high schools were announced in eight categories, reflecting student achievement in Advanced Placement coursework and testing in 2023.
According to a release, “AP exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT. AP courses are one of several ways Georgia students can access college-level learning at the high school level; students who receive a 3, 4, or 5 on an AP exam may receive college credit. GaDOE began recognizing AP Honor Schools in 2008.”
Kell, Pope, Lassiter, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler were all included in the state’s list of AP STEM schools, which have “a minimum of five students testing in at least four AP STEM courses, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Environmental Science, AP Physics 1, AP Physics 2, AP Physics C, AP Computer Science A, AP Computer Science Principles, and a minimum of 25 exams administered.”
Pope, Lassiter, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler were also named AP STEM Achievement Schools, with at least 50 percent of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
Kell, Lassiter, Sprayberry and Walton were named AP Humanities Schools, those “with at least five exams administered in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two social studies courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course and a minimum of 25 total exams administered” as well as AP Humanities Achievement Schools, with at least 50 percent of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
Pope, Lassiter, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler were named AP Schools of Distinction, those having at least 20 percent of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.
Sprayberry was included as an AP Access and Support School, which has at least 30 percent of AP exams taken by students who identified as African American and/or Hispanic (minimum of 16 students) and 30 percent of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher (minimum 25 exams).
Cobb Elections and Registration workers are notifying 73 absentee-by-mail (ABM) voters they received the wrong ballot in a batch mailed out on Friday. The problem came to light when a couple came to vote during advance voting on Monday and told poll workers they had received the wrong ballot in the mail.
Election workers immediately investigated and found that a processing error resulted in only republican ballots being sent out Friday, February 23. Of the 194 ballots issued that day, 75 of them should have been democratic ballots.
The 75 ABM ballots incorrectly sent out have been canceled, and elections workers will notify the remaining 73 voters of the issue and mail them the correct ballots on Tuesday.
“We are happy this situation was found quickly,” said Elections Director Tate Fall. “Our staff was able to pinpoint the issue, identify those who received the wrong ballot, and determine how to correct it. We believe this processing error only impacted ballots issued on Friday, February 23rd.”
Anyone with questions concerning this or any other issue should contact the Cobb County Elections and Registration office at 770-528-2581 or ElectionsInfo@cobbcounty.org.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name, high school attendance zone and sales price:
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!
Next Saturday a new season begins for the East Marietta National Little League, which will hold its annual Opening Day festivities at Sewell Park.
It’s also a day that Cobb officials are expected to designate as Blake Mahoney Day.
Mahoney was 11 years old and a player for East Marietta when he was killed on April, 19, 2020, after his bicycle collided with car in his neighborhood.
On Tuesday, Cobb commissioners will be asked to designate March 2 as Blake Mahoney Day in a resolution at the start of the board’s monthly evening business meeting.
According to an agenda item from Commissioner Jerica Richardson, Mahoney “lived the Little League values of Community, Fun, Inclusion, Integrity and Teamwork. Blake was a kind person and had an infectious smile. He was always welcoming new players at the park. Blake was also a fierce competitor, playing with toughness and determination, and was the first to congratulate a teammate on a good play.”
After his death, Mahoney’s parents established a scholarship in their son’s name, awarded on financial need, to “help an inspiring baseball player—to continue in Blake’s spirit, for the love of the game.”
Those scholarships are given to East Marietta players in the spring and fall seasons.
The spring season Opening Day ceremonies begin next Saturday, March 2, starting at 10 a.m. on Field 3 at Sewell Park (2055 Lower Roswell Road).
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!
We got the photo above Thursday from a reader who reported that “our teenage daughter spotted a rare albino ‘piebald’ buck in our yard this morning. Not sure if newsworthy, but we thought it was pretty cool. Our south Georgia family had never even seen one.”
“Piebald” deer have pigmented backgrounds with white, unpigmented patterns, and other animal breeds with similar conditions include birds, cattle, dogs and cats, horses, foxes and pigs.
A UGA researcher estimates that piebald deer total less than 2 percent of the deer population, and other estimates figure it’s even rarer than that.
The National Deer Association, which is based near Athens in Bogart, Ga., lays out the differences here between albino, piebald, melanistic and other off-color deer types. In case you spot one like the above in your neighborhood.
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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!
On Friday, February 9th, 2024, the Cobb County Superior Court proudly hosted the first Courtroom to Classroom event of the new year, welcoming nearly 200 enthusiastic fourth graders from East Side Elementary School. The event aimed to educate students about the intricacies of the legal system through an engaging mock trial experience.
Under the guidance of Superior Court judges Jason D. Marbutt, Kellie S. Hill, and Henry R. Thompson, alongside State Court judge Jaret Usher, the young participants delved into a scripted mock trial to determine the guilt of “Jaime Joyride” in the alleged theft of bicycles from a local store. Judge Marbutt expressed his enthusiasm for educating children, noting, “I love having the opportunity to teach kids about our jury system and due process. I was impressed with how seriously the kid jurors took their job!”
Following the mock trial, the students had the privilege of engaging with representatives from the Cobb Sheriff’s Office’s Community Engagement Unit and meeting K-9 officers Rose and Boomer, along with their handlers, Angela and Deputy Jacob Long, respectively. These officers provided valuable insights into their roles within the community and showcased tools used to ensure public safety, including bicycle and trike patrol units. Judge Henry R. Thompson emphasized the importance of public servants participating in community outreach programs, stating, “I think it is the duty of all public servants to participate in community outreach programs whenever feasible.”
The Cobb County Superior Court looks forward to hosting more mock trials throughout the 2023-24 school year, providing valuable educational experiences for fourth- and fifth-grade groups.
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!
Submitted information from Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell:
Please join the Cobb County Department of Transportation and me 5 – 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the theatre at The Art Place – Mountain View, 3330 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta for an open house to learn more about the county’s plans to improve safety and traffic operations on Holly Springs Road. The county recently completed a study of the corridor between Sandy Plains Road and Old Canton Road and is recommending improvements at the intersections of Holly Springs Road at Sandy Plains Road and Holly Springs Road at Post Oak Tritt Road.
During this open house, the county will have concept boards on display and will be seeking input from the public and nearby residents regarding the proposed improvements to these intersections.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A reader alerted us to he news that the the Cleaver and Cork specialty meat and butcher shop has been sold and closed, a little more than a year after opening at the Shoppes of Woodlawn (1062 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 162-D).
Social media postings indicate the sale closed to an unnamed buyer. When we went by the store, a sign said that it closed on Feb. 15 and will continue “as a top quality butcher shop and will reopen as soon as the new owners are established.”
Cleaver and Cork describes itself as a family-owned artisanal butcher with a full line of premium meats as well as seafood, side dishes, cheese, produce, coffee, spices, charcuterie products and more.
The company is run by Chad and Audrey Stine, both former meat industry and sales representatives. They founded their first butcher shop in Sharpsburg, Ga., in 2018, then in nearby Newnan the next year. A store on Haynes Bridge Road in Alpharetta opened in late 2022.
The social media postings said “Chef Josh,” who has been working at the East Cobb location for the past year—”a dedicated employee taking it on for the team, driving the drive every day”—will be working out of the Newnan location.
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