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Present and previous educators and staffers at Hightower Trail Middle School recently celebrated together the school’s 30th anniversary with a photo-and-memorabilia walk down memory lane.
The Cobb County School District said in a release that the commemoration in the school’s media center included refreshments, laughs and plenty of nostalgia.
The tribute included composite staff photos from the past three decades, honoring “the the dedicated individuals who have played a pivotal role in shaping the school’s identity and fostering a culture of excellence.”
The event also took place on the same day of Hightower Trail’s Night of the Arts, highlighted by musical performances by students.
Hightower Trail opened its doors off Post Oak Tritt Road at the start of the 1993-94 school year, helping ease growing middle school attendance in the Pope High School cluster.
“We were beyond thrilled with the overwhelming turnout for our 30th Anniversary Celebration,” Hightower Trail principal Dr. Hannah Polk said in the release.
“How gratifying for the entire Hightower Trail family to witness current and former staff members become reacquainted and share their favorite husky memories. It is an honor and privilege to serve this incredible community as we look forward to the next 30 years of celebrating student success at Hightower Trail Middle School.”
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A citizens group that scrutinizes Cobb County School District finances is inviting the public to an online information session next week to go over the proposed fiscal year 2025 budget.
Watching the Funds-Cobb (Facebook page) said the Zoom call is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 7, at 7 p.m. It’s open to anyone who wants to take part, but you must register in advance by going to this link.
Those who sign up will get a confirmation e-mail with more information about the session.
Watching the Funds-Cobb said that all seven Cobb Board of Education members have been asked to serve as panelists, but only Becky Sayler of Post 2 has agreed. The budget session will, according to its event listing:
help taxpayers understand the budget
earn about new laws going into effect impacting our property taxes, millage rates and district funding
learn how to contact board members to provide input into the budget, as allowed by law.
The Cobb school district’s proposed budget is $1.85 billion, up from the current FY 2024 budget of $1.5 billion that lasts through June 30.
It includes pay raises for most full-time employees ranging from 4.4 percent to 9 percent, and holds the property tax rate at 18.7 mills.
(Proposed FY 2025 budget documents can be found by clicking here.)
The budget was presented to the Cobb school board and was tentatively adopted, which means the district can properly advertise it to the public.
Formal adoption is scheduled for May 16, following the second required public hearing.
But Watching the Funds-Cobb was among those last week calling for more opportunities for public comment on the budget, especially given the significant spending increase.
Some complained the public hadn’t had time to look through the extensive documents which were posted only a short time before the first public hearing last Thursday, hours after the budget presentation.
“Sadly, you hold the minimum hearings required by law, and you hold them on the same day of these votes,” Watching the Funds-Cobb leader Heather Tolley Bauer said, noting how other local school districts provide citizens more opportunities to review and comment on their budgets.
“While they give their stakeholders months, you give us only hours, sending a clear message that you want our money but not our opinions.”
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Recently the Whataburger fast food chain filed plans with the Cobb Zoning Office to replace the nearly 7,000-square foot restaurant building and construct a new facility on the same site.
It would be the fifth Whataburger location in Cobb County, but a site plan amendment is needed to do so.
According to the preliminary files (you can read them here), there are a number of stipulations dictating future land use for the 1.31-acre parcel.
Among them are restrictions against a fast-food restaurant and anything with a drive-through service. The Whataburger site plan, drawn up by a Cumming-based architect, calls for a double-lane drive-through fronting Sandy Plains Road.
Those were among the stipulations included in a 1998 pending litigation settlement between Cobb County and Sembler Family Partnership, a retail developer, over a rezoning case that permitted the O’Charley’s.
The land once belonged to the prominent Gordy’s family (of Varsity restaurant fame) that owned many parcels in the area, and is part of a larger retail center currently anchored by a Target store.
Cobb property tax records indicate that the land, owned by the 1987 Donig Living Trust Nov 23 87, sold for $2.575 million in 2004 and has an an appraised value of nearly $2 million.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled to hear the request on May 21, and the zoning staff has not yet issued a full analysis or a recommendation.
Rezoning isn’t needed because the community retail commercial (CRC) designation includes restaurants.
Whataburger, which started in Texas in 1950, has nearly 1,000 restaurants, mostly in Texas and the South.
There are three open in Cobb: On Cobb Parkway near Akers Mill Road, on Barrett Parkway near I-75 and at Chastain Road and George Busbee Parkway. Another is planned for the Acworth area.
There’s also a Whataburger on Highway 92 in Woodstock near I-575.
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 Cobb County Water System is currently transitioning to a new online customer account service system. ALL online services, including billing and payment systems, will be unavailable from Monday afternoon, April 29 through Monday, May 6. During this time, we will have no access to customer accounts. For more information, visit cobbcounty.org/water/customer-service/request-service.
You can still make a cash or check payment in person at 660 South Cobb Drive, Marietta. This payment will not be applied to the account until the new system is available. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.
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!
Open burning is banned from May 1 – Sept. 30 in Cobb County. You may not burn leaves, tree limbs or other yard waste, forest land or use air curtain destructors for land clearing. This rule is in addition to the year-round state ban on the burning of household garbage.
Cobb Fire and Emergency Services staff enforce this state-issued burning ban in unincorporated Cobb County, and the cities of Acworth, Kennesaw and Powder Springs.
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Pamela Reardon doesn’t have another Republican to run against in her campaign for the District 2 seat on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Not after the Cobb Board of Elections disqualified another GOP hopeful for living outside the map boundaries that are being used for the May 21 primary.
Reardon, a retired real estate agent who’s active in local Republican politics, knows her name also could be scratched from the general election ballot if a long-running legal dispute over commission electoral maps is decided before November.
But she’s campaigning anyway, as two courts are mulling over where commission districts might be formed that affect the East Cobb area in particular.
“Until something changes, this is how it is,” Reardon told East Cobb News on Monday, as advance primary voting got underway. “I’m not going to take a chance and not be on the ballot.”
She lives in the East Cobb portion of the current District 2 boundaries that are being observed by Cobb Elections for the primary. The district also includes the Smyrna-Vinings-Cumberland area.
They’re roughly the same boundaries that make up the area Democrat Jerica Richardson has represented since 2021.
But the Georgia legislature drew Richardson out of her seat during reapportionment in 2022, prompting an unprecedented maneuver by the commission’s three Democrats to claim home rule authority in redistricting.
Their vote in October 2022 challenges a long-held Georgia Constitutional provision that only the legislature can conduct redistricting. A Cobb Superior Court judge recently ruled the Cobb action unconstitutional, but the county has appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court, and hearings were conducted earlier this month.
Another Cobb judge recently heard the appeal of Alicia Adams, a Republican who lives in what the legislature drew to be District 3, comprising most of East Cobb and part of the Kennesaw area, and who was disqualified from the primary.
In 2022, East Cobb voters found the District 3 race on their ballots, and Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell was re-elected to a fourth term.
At left, maps recognized by Cobb Democratic commissioners, with District 2 in pink and District 3 in yellow. At right, maps approved in 2022 by the Republican-majority Georgia legislature.
While plenty of confusion abounds, Reardon thinks there’s more to come. She doesn’t believe either legal case will be decided before the primary, if at all.
“Are they really going to stop the primary? Do you really think that’s going to happen? No,” she said.
Five Democrats qualified for the District 2 seat after Richardson announced her candidacy for the 6th Congressional District.
Among them are two East Cobb residents, Will Costa and Kevin Redmon, the latter a former member of Richardson’s “community cabinet.” Another Democratic candidate is Taniesha Whorton, who lives in the Powers Ferry Road area that’s also in the county-recognized District 2.
They also could be affected by a court ruling along residency lines. Two other Democrats were disqualified by the Cobb Democratic Party for similar reasons: former Marietta City Council member Reggie Copeland and Marietta resident Donald Barth.
East Cobb News has left messages with Costa, Redmon and Whorton seeking comment.
Redmon’s campaign said in an e-mail response that “the courts have taken the posture of taking their time to get this right and we will respect their decision. As it stands today, the Home Rule map is what Cobb is operating under and what the Cobb Board of Elections is using for this election.
Kevin Redmon
“We’re out in the community at public and private events, knocking doors, meeting for coffee doing what it takes to show up for District 2,” the statement said. “[Redmon] will stand up for District 2 when elected. We encourage folks to vote on or before May 21.”
The other Democrats are in the Smyrna area that would be in District 2 either way: former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard, and former State Rep. Erick Allen, who as Cobb legislative delegation chairman drew the maps the county is following.
Reardon finds it ironic that Cobb Democrats are fighting to redraw District 2 lines that include East Cobb. Richardson barely edged GOP nominee Fitz Johnson in 2020 with similar boundaries.
Reardon said she thinks District 2 as is and which previously was held for three terms by Republican Bob Ott, is “red.”
In the meantime, Reardon said she continues to canvass, not just in her own race but with other Republicans. She’s against the 30-year proposed Cobb transit tax that’s on the November ballot, wants the property tax millage rate to be rolled back, opposes a proposed stormwater impact fee and thinks the county needs to rein in spending.
“I’m not going to be devastated if they change the maps,” Reardon said, referring to what she calls “Home Rule 2,” adding that she’s considering a run in District 3 in 2026 (Redmon has filed a similar declaration of intent).
“I want to help give our citizens and the ordinary people of Cobb County a voice.”
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!
Advance voting is underway in Cobb County in the 2024 Georgia primaries, and will continue for another three weeks.
The locations include two in East Cobb, at the East Cobb Government Services Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) and the Tim D. Lee Senior Center (3332 Sandy Plains Road).
Their hours are as follows:
April 29-May 3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
May 6-10 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
May 13-17 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The East Cobb Government Service Center will have a dropbox available on those dates, during those voting hours. Early voters also may go there for the two Sundays of advance voting, May 5 and May 12, from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
There several locations in the county where voters can cast their ballots ahead of the formal election day, May 21, and you can go to any location you choose.
You can get the latest updates on estimated wait-times at those polling locations by clicking here.
They include Democratic races for Cobb Commission Chair, Cobb District Attorney, Cobb Sheriff, Cobb Superior Court Clerk and Cobb Tax Commissioner.
Incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk also has primary opposition, as do some local legislative office-holders.
The Cobb Comission District 2 race has several Democratic hopefuls and a Republican seeking to replace incumbent Jerica Richardson, who’s running for Congress.
But the Georgia Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on contested redistricting lines for that seat. It recently heard an appeal by Cobb County, whose Democratic commissioners approved “home rule” maps that include some of East Cobb in District 2.
A Cobb Superior Court judge ruled that the county must abide by maps approved by the legislature in 2021 that put East Cobb almost entirely within District 3, drawing Richardson out of her seat.
A Republican candidate for District 2 is appealing a decision by the Cobb Board of Elections to disqualify her, based on the county-approved maps.
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!
Three high schools in East Cobb have been ranked in the Top 25 in Georgia public high schools in the 2024 U.S. News compilation of high school rankings.
In addition, Dickerson Middle School was rated No. 1 among public middle schools in the state. Mt. Bethel Elementary School was No. 15 and Sope Creek ES was No. 16 in the K-5 listings.
The magazine’s annual high school listings, which were released this week, have Walton High School ranked fourth, with Lassiter at No. 12 and Pope at No. 25.
They topped the Cobb County School District rankings (you can read the Georgia listings by clicking here).
Wheeler is listed at No, 41, Sprayberry is at No. 69 and Kell is at No. 78. More than 400 public schools were included in the state rankings.
Dodgen Middle School was ranked No. 3 in the middle school category in Georgia. Mabry Middle School came in at No. 12, with Hightower Trail at No. 24 and Simpson Middle School at No. 32.
U.S. News evaluated more than 17,000 high schools across the country based on a variety of factors, including taking AP exams; math, reading and science proficiency; and graduation rates (methodology explained here).
Walton’s “scorecard” of 98.85 out of 100 (details here) shows that 68 percent of students took at least one AP exam and 64 percent of them passed. The school also had a 97 percent graduation rate in 2024.
Walton is listed at No. 203 nationally and in Georgia, only Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Technology and Science, Columbus High School and the Alliance Academy for Innovation ranked higher.
Lassiter (scorecard here) had similar numbers, and is ranked No. 395 nationally; Pope (scorecard here) is at No. 772.
The middle school rankings in Georgia (listings here) evaluated more than 1,000 schools on student-teacher ratio, and math and reading proficiency.
Dickerson’s latter numbers were 82 and 80 percent, respectively, while Dodgen’s are 79 and 77 percent.
Other statewide rankings for East Cobb middle schools are McCleskey at No, 90, Daniell at No. 130 and East Cobb at No. 219.
A total of 1,888 elementary schools (listings here) were evaluated along similar lines. The other East Cobb elementary schools are ranked as follows statewide:
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!
Attention high school students interested in getting more involved in their community — The Atlanta Regional Commission offers an exciting opportunity just for you. The Model Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC) is a youth leadership program designed to explore the planning challenges facing our region. Through engaging activities and discussions with peers who share your interests, you’ll delve into topics like transportation, sustainability, and community development.
MARC is open to rising 10th and 11th graders who live or go to school in the 11-county Atlanta region (Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale counties, as well as the city of Atlanta).
Apply now before the May 3 deadline. This program is completely free, but spots are limited, so don’t miss out on this fantastic opportunity.
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!
Auditions have begun for the Marietta-based Georgia Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is seeking young musicians for the fall 2024 season.
The program is one of the largest in the Southeast, serving students from 17 metro counties in elementary through high school. It includes five orchestras and seven instrumental chamber ensembles, including jazz and percussion.
Two students currently in the program are Antonia Patel, a member of GYSO’s Camerata orchestra, who joined GYSO three years ago, and her brother Aidan, a violinist in the philharmonic orchestra who first auditioned for GYSO five years ago.
“I love the challenge of playing harder and harder music and seeing my friends each week,” Antonia Patel said.
Here’s more from the GYSO about the program, plus information on auditions and scholarships:
What sets GYSO apart is its dedication to providing a nurturing and supportive environment for young musicians to develop their skills and perform at the highest level. Led by professionals in their fields, each ensemble works tirelessly to prepare for performances throughout the year, giving students a comprehensive music experience that fosters excellence on both an individual and collective level.
For more information about the GYSO program, audition process or need-based scholarships, visit georgiayouthsymphony.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!
Safely dispose of unused and expired medications by bringing them to our FREE Medication Take Back Event on April 27, 2024 (10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.)!
1. Precinct One, 2380 Cobb Pkwy NW, Kennesaw
2. C. Freeman Poole Senior Center, 4025 South Hurt Rd, NW, Smyrna
3. Tim D. Lee Senior Center, 3332 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta
Accepted Items
Creams
Patches
Prescription, over-the-counter liquid and pill form
Ointments
Pet medications
Vials
There are NO limits on quantity.
Need to know how to dispose of needles/sharps in Cobb county?
Staff and law enforcement personnel will be at these locations to collect medications that will be properly disposed in compliance with federal law. Medicines do not have to be removed from their containers and labels do not have to be removed. Everything collected will be immediately sealed in boxes and destroyed.
Medications flushed down the toilet may contaminate our lakes, streams and groundwater causing harm to humans, wildlife and vegetation. Medications thrown in the trash can cause poisoning by accidental ingestion by young children, pets and even wildlife. (Nothing will be accepted at this address or by any Cobb County staff person before or after the scheduled drop-off day)
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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 Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team proudly hosted their 10th semi-annual Appreciation Lunch on Wednesday, April 24th, from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, dedicated to honoring our local heroes – police officers, firefighters, EMTs, and military personnel. The event was a huge success, with the largest turnout they have seen to date!
PrimeLending served BBQ with a variety of sides and drinks, sponsored by Arrow Exterminators. Attendees were welcome to use the patio to enjoy their meal, or they could take it on the road, ensuring that our hardworking heroes could enjoy a well-deserved break amidst their duties. In addition to the delicious lunch, each attendee received a goodie bag filled with awesome items as a token of appreciation for their service and dedication.
Additional sponsors for the event included Amerispec /All Atlanta Inspection Services, First American Home Warranty, American Home Shield, and Chick-fil-A East Lake. For more information about upcoming community events hosted by the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team, please visit www.JaniceOverbeck.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 Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to name the county government’s main office building on the Marietta Square in honor of late Cobb County Manager David Hankerson.
Commissioners also issued a proclamation to Hankerson’s family during their Tuesday business meeting, and the Atlanta Braves contributed an honorary jersey with his name, and signed by the team.
Hankerson was the Cobb County Manager for 24 years. During his tenure, Cobb continued its designation with AAA national bond ratings, completed the construction of the East-West Connector and opened the new Atlanta Braves stadium and The Battery Atlanta.
Hankerson also started the Public Safety Make-A-Wish 5K and was instrumental in developing the county’s Safety Village.
“David truly loved Cobb County,” Hankerson’s widow, Janet Hankerson said. “Knowing David, he is looking down upon us with a big smile on his face acknowledging this proclamation.”
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The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says it has collected some new evidence related to its investigation into the homicides of an East Cobb married couple in south Georgia in 2015.
The GBI said Monday that a citizen found a .22 caliber rifle while fishing in Horse Creek near McRae, Ga., in Telfair County, on April 14.
The same citizen two days later went to the same location, and using a magnetic device, found a bag and driver’s licenses and credit cards belonging to Bud and June Runion, as well as a cell phone thought to belong to them, according to the GBI.
The GBI said its agents and the Telfair County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at a home on two separate occasions after that last week, adding that investigators recovered unspecified further evidence that’s being sent to the state crime lab for further analysis.
The GBI didn’t identify who lived in the home and didn’t indicate in its release on Monday if the rifle could be the murder weapon.
A suspect arrested shortly after the murders, Ronnie Adrian Towns, is scheduled to go on trial for the killings in August.
The Runions, who lived off Holly Springs Road, were in their 60s when they ventured to Telfair County in January 2015 to buy a 1966 Ford Mustang. Bud Runion had posted an interest in making such a purchase on Craigslist.
The Runions were reported missing by their daughters the following day, and four days later their bodies were found on a rural road, not far from where their vehicle was spotted in a pond near McRae, 75 miles south of Macon.
Authorities said the Runions had been robbed and shot in the head, but a murder weapon had not been found. Towns, then 28, turned himself in and was charged with murder and armed robbery.
But his murder indictment was overturned in 2019 by the Georgia Supreme Court, upholding a lower court ruling of improper jury selection.
Towns was re-indicted in 2020.
The Runions were married for 38 years. According to their obituaries, in 1991 the Runions founded Forever Greatful Ministries, which helps families in need in the Marietta area. Bud Runion was retired from AT & T and June Runion was a preschool teacher at Johnson Ferry Christian Academy.
They were longtime members of Mt. Paran Church of God North on Allgood Road.
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A fire broke out at the Medford-Peden Funeral Home on Canton Road Tuesday, but there were no injuries, according to the Marietta Fire Department.
Deputy Fire Marshall Steve Gau said Marietta and Cobb fire crews were dispatched to 1408 Canton Road around 2:30 p.m. and found heavy fire and smoke conditions.
He said crews brought the fire under control in around 20 minutes, and there were no remains of any deceased in the funeral home.
Gau said a cause hasn’t been determined and that Marietta Fire is conducting the investigation.
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The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office announced that a 68-year-old male detainee passed away Saturday at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital after suffering from cancer.
A release said the man, who was unidentified, was homeless and declined to provide family contact information.
The Cobb Sheriff’s Office said “he was last arrested for violating restrictions based on his sex offender status,” but didn’t say how long he had been in custody.
“All signs pointed to this individual being homeless with no access to medical care,” Sheriff Craig Owens in a statement. “We believe he wanted to be arrested so he could live his remaining weeks in a more comfortable environment.”
The Sheriff’s Office said that following a medical screening upon his arrest “it became clear he was facing a serious health challenge.”
He was “routinely” taken to Kennestone for treatment, and “due to the detainee’s sex offender status and to protect the public, Sheriff Owens mandated that he remain incarcerated.”
Owens said in the release that “I say often that jails across our metro and the state have become de facto hospitals and mental health facilities.
“This detainee’s death is another example of that fact, and we must collectively do more outside of the criminal justice system so that folks don’t intentionally go to jail to receive life or death medical treatment.”
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The two hopefuls for the open Post 5 seat on the Cobb Board of Education don’t have opponents in the upcoming primaries, but they’re picking up endorsements.
Last week the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Action Fund endorsed Democrat Laura Judge as part of a slate of endorsements in metro Atlanta school board and county commission races.
And on Tuesday, Republican John Cristadoro announced he had received the endorsement of Educators First, a teachers’ organization.
Post 5, which includes the Walton and Pope and some of the Wheeler attendance zones, is being vacated by four-term Republican David Banks.
According to its website, the SPLC Action Fund “is focused on lifting up communities of color, particularly in the Deep South, who face systemic oppression, poverty and structural racism. To overcome these injustices, the organization is committed to reimagining the political, economic and social systems that sustain them to create a world where all people can thrive. ”
Judge, a Walton-area parent, noted in a social media posting that she got the endorsement “on a day that I spoke out at the school board meeting for a student in my Post who had to deal with racial discrimination in one of our schools.
“I will continue to advocate for the safety of our students, stand up against hate within our district, and empower our community to use their voice.”
Judge also has received endorsements from Cobb school board member Becky Sayler of Post 2 in Smyrna, Democratic State Rep. Lisa Campbell of Cobb, the Georgia Working Families Party, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and the 3.14 Action Fund, which supports Democratic female candidates with science backgrounds.
Educators First represents professional teachers as an alternative to older organizations such as the Georgia Association of Educators.
Educators First says it offers “all the advantages of a traditional union, but without the high costs and partisan politics.”
Based in Kennesaw, Educators First was founded in 2011 and its CEO and co-founder is John Adams, a former Cobb County School District deputy superintendent.
“I am honored to have received the Educators First endorsement,” Cristadoro said in a statement Tuesday. “Educators First’s endorsement in my campaign clearly demonstrates the wide appeal and local grassroots support of our campaign.”
According to his latest campaign disclosure report in February, Cristadoro has raised more than $33,000 and has more than $28,000 in cash on hand.
Judge also filed a financial disclosure report in February listing more than $18,000 in contributions and more than $2,000 in cash on hand.
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