Following up last week’s story about the delayed finish to the Post Oak Tritt-Hembree roundabout project: You’d best avoid that intersection on Thursday.
That’s because traffic is being rerouted for most of the day so contractors can lay down asphalt in the intersection.
Around noon today, Cobb commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Bob Ott issued a map below that isn’t terribly legible, but they also say in an accompanying note that the work will take place Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and that police officers will be redirecting traffic.
As we posted last week, weather and utility delays pushed back completion from this month to next March. Here’s more from the note that went out today:
“This project remains a priority for Cobb DOT, who will continue to make every effort to ensure that the project is safe throughout the remainder. 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!
The Cobb Board of Education is scheduled to adopt a millage rate for the new fiscal year 2020 budget on Thursday.
The board will take action at 7 p.m. in the board room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover St., Marietta.
At noon Thursday is the second of three public hearings the board is required to hold about the millage rate. It’s scheduled to take place at the same place, to be followed by a work session at 1 p.m.
The third and final public hearing precedes the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.
The new $1.7 billion Cobb schools budget year began on July 1, holding the line on a rate of 18.9 mills that has been levied for many years.
That is not formalized before the Cobb Tax Assessor establishes the county tax digest in late June. This year, it’s projected to be $39 billion, surpassing last year’s record of $36.2 billion.
That means that the Cobb County School District will be collecting more in tax revenues than in 2018. When an elected body doesn’t roll back the millage rate accordingly, that’s considered a tax increase, and it must advertise and hold three public hearings.
This year the tax revenue increase for Cobb schools is 4.88 percent. A recent history of the schools millage rate levy can be found here.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Milton City Hall, which opened in 2017 near a mixed-use development in Crabapple, was built with funding from a $10 million bond issue. (ECN photos)
We’re still waiting to hear back about the work of the East Cobb cityhood financial committee (we were told in late June it would be “a few weeks.”)
In the meantime, we pulled the latest budget and financial information we could find for similar municipalities in Cobb, and in particular, some of the newer cities in North Fulton.
The seven cities we looked at all provide more than what’s being proposed now in the East Cobb cityhood legislation—a state-mandated minimum of three services, in this case police, fire and community development.
While it’s possible a proposed City of East Cobb, should it come to pass, could add services as some others have, for now its “independent” financial committee is limiting its work to those three called for in the bill.
The audit group is scouring through a Georgia State University study released in December that declared the proposed City of East Cobb “financially feasible” with annual revenues of around $49.5 million and a nearly $4 million surplus to start.
The goal of the finance committee, cityhood leader Rob Eble said last month, is to come up with a workable budget. So those numbers are likely to change, perhaps a good bit, especially if the proposed city boundary lines are altered.
Eble told us last month the cityhood group wants to have a town hall meeting in August or once the financial work is complete.
Modeling after Milton
One of the cities the East Cobb group has referenced in its public statements as a model is Milton, the northernmost municipality in Fulton County, and which voted to incorporate in 2006.
It offered police, fire and community development to start, and has added public works and parks and recreation.
Milton’s population of just under 40,000 is less than half of what’s being proposed for East Cobb now, but it’s affluent with similar demographics, per capita income and median home values, as well as public school rankings.
Milton’s current fiscal year 2019 budget of $29.2 million is calculated on a millage rate of 4.39, which has held steady since the city began.
That’s one of the talking points made by East Cobb cityhood leaders, who’ve said in town hall meetings this spring that property taxes wouldn’t be higher than what’s currently levied in unincorporated Cobb.
While some East Cobb cityhood skeptics are dubious about the claim to hold the line at 2.96 mills, Milton’s been able to make major capital improvements due to bond issues. After leasing office space for more than a decade, a city hall building opened in 2017, funded with a $10 million bond issue approved by Milton voters.
The Green at Crabapple Market opened in 2018, across from Milton City Hall.
The two-story building includes event space and is located near a three-story mixed-use development, featuring shops, restaurants and high-end townhomes, in the historic Crabapple district.
For now, possible City of East Cobb plans would be to purchase and utilize the East Cobb Government Service Center on Lower Roswell Road. The facility houses Cobb Police Precinct 4 headquarters and Cobb Fire Station 20, as well as a Cobb Tax Commissioner satellite office.
But there’s nothing in the proposed charter referencing where a city hall and municipal court may be located.
Linked below are the latest budget documents for six other cities in Cobb and North Fulton. Sandy Springs and Johns Creek also came into being in 2006; the others are decades-old cities that have offered a variety of services for many years.
That’s especially the case in Marietta, whose overall budget of $331 million includes its operations of the Marietta Board of Lights and Water (expected 2020 revenues of $168 million). That overall figure, plus the general fund budget and millage rate, are both included in the table below.
Community leaders in Mableton have had a bill filed in the legislature, similar to East Cobb’s. That municipality would have a population near 90,000, with proposed services including community development, but not police and fire.
The South Cobb Alliance group pushing Mableton cityhood is still raising money to fund a required financial feasibility study.
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 newly opened Credit Union of Georgia branch on Johnson Ferry Road won’t be displaying an electronic message board.
The financial institution located at 1020 Johnson Ferry Road at the intersection of Little Willeo Road) had requested permission from the Cobb Board of Commissioners for a stipulation amendment to build a six-foot high LED sign.
But by a 4-0 vote, commissioners turned down the request. Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb said the electronic message board is incompatible with the neighborhood, including the newly opened Solana East Cobb senior residential facility on the opposite side of the intersection.
The reason Cobb zoning staff recommended denial, Ott said, is because “there’s a whole lot of history at this intersection.”
The Credit Union of Georgia standalone building formerly housed several bank branches, most recently BB & T. It’s also across from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
One of the original stipulations for the property, dating back to 1984, says any sign “shall not be backlighted and . . . no neon-type signs shall be used.”
“This would be introducing the neighborhood to a whole new element,” Ott said before making a motion to deny the request.
The only existing electronic sign in that part of the Johnson Ferry corridor is a static sign listing movies playing at the Merchants Walk Cinema.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce recused himself from voting, saying he had a “financial relationship” with the applicant.
In other business Tuesday, commissioners voted to continue until September a request by Geneva Roswell, LLC to divvy up the former L.A. Fitness location at 4905 Alabama Road—just up the road from Sandy Plains Village—into multiple retail parcels (view the case file here).
The case has drawn nearby opposition, and Kevin Moore, the applicant’s attorney, was going to withdraw the application without prejudice.
One of the objections to the application was a stipulation to allow for a truck dock for a potential retail occupant, and to construct a ground-based monument sign.
The county zoning staff had issues with the sign request, saying violated sewer easement setback restrictions.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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 few weeks ago we saw the renovations underway for a new Clean Juice organic smoothie and juice location at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center (1205 Johnson Ferry Road), in the former space of Edward Johns Jewelers)
The store is announcing this week that its grand opening will take place on Saturday from 10-6. Free smoothies and Açaí Bowls are among the day-long promotions they’ll be giving away. More updates on its Facebook page.
Clean Juice is a Charlotte, N.C.-based company with nearly 60 franchises in 18 states, including stores in Alpharetta, Sandy Springs and Westside Atlanta.
The East Cobb opening hours will be Monday-Friday 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday 8-8 and Sunday 9-6.
Get your Sushi Burrito fix
Tomorrow’s News Today reports that Roll On In, an Ohio-based franchise eatery specializing in sushi burritos and bowls, will be opening soon (likely by the end of the summer, according to the store’s Facebook page) at Woodlawn Commons Shopping Center (1100 Johnson Ferry Road), next to La Vida Massage.
The store is one of three planned for the Asian Fusion chain’s foray into Atlanta, with others slated for Alpharetta and Roswell.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Last summer the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road) staged the inaugural “Minicon,” a day-long celebration of the arts and crafts of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, anime and gaming. On Saturday, it’s coming back for its second year, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The schedule is similar, including a costume contest (as seen above last year), along with gaming and other demos, cosplay and other workshops, face painting, food, vendors and many other activities.
What follows below more detailed list of what’s being featured. Anyone in the public is welcome to attend, and there is no admission:
Artists and Vendors:
BUTTON GIRL
CAIN 9 SEWING DESIGNS
DORIAN DARKSTAR
DOUBLE PRIMER
EK STUDIO
FELT NERDY
FLINT & FEATHER
GEMINI AND THE WOLF CANDLES
GENE MARKEY
GIGA-BITES CAFE
GOTHBOT
THE HAPPY KAT
JEWELRY BY JACK COLLINS
KNITS BY CAREY
LEGACY A.D.
MARK’S MUGS
MARLENA FRANK
MEGANEBII
MORBID SMILE
P.C. HESTER
SHINY TURTLE STUDIOS
WE THE DREAMING DESIGNS
Food:
COOL BEANS COFFEE
DADDY O’BRIEN’S ICE CREAM
GOOD FOOD
TOM + CHEE
ZAXBY’S
Featured Panel:
THE GREAT JAWA BUILD WITH GEORGIA 501ST
Workshops:
COSPLAY Q&A
FX MAKEUP FOR BEGINNERS
MINIATURES PAINTING* (Limited Space. First come first served)
WEB COMICS
ZINE MAKING
Featured Activities:
COSPLAY CONTEST (ADULTS AND TEENS)
CHILDREN’S COSTUME PARADE
CRAFTS
DEMOS BY THE MAKER STATION
DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
FACE PAINTING
FANDOM MEETUPS
PALM READINGS BY HANDFUL OF STARS ($20)
PATHFINDER
TABLETOP GAMING WITH GIGA-BITES CAFE
TRIVIA
For information contact the Sewell Mill Library at 770-509-2711.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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 second round of public meetings concerning the development of new Cobb parks properties begins this week and continues into August.
The only property purchased in East Cobb with funding from the 2008 Parks bond program is on Ebenezer Road (above).
A meeting seeking public input to guide that master plan takes place on Wednesday, Aug. 7, in the sanctuary of the Noonday Baptist Church (4121 Canton Road), from 6:30-8 p.m.
Cobb Parks previously hosted a series of public input meetings to discuss planning for the future of new park properties purchased through the 2008 PARKS Bond program.
Although there is currently no funding for the development of these properties, public input is being sought in the planning for future development once funding is identified.
Comments and information from the first meeting involving the proposed Ebenezer Road Park in February can be found below:
The schedule for other Cobb Parks master plan meetings is as follows:
District 1: Anderson property — Thursday, July 18. West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
District 1: Price property — Wednesday, July 31. West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
District 1: Kemp property — Monday, Aug. 5. West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
District 4: Henderson property — Thursday, Aug. 8. South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive, Mableton
District 4: Old Westside property — Monday, Aug. 12. Ron Anderson Recreation Center, 3820 Macedonia Road, Powder Springs.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Andy Lee White, at left, an East Cobb resident and author of the newly published “Atlanta Pop in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s” writes in to say that he and his co-author, John Williams, at right, will be having a signing event July 26 on the Marietta Square.
Their book, published in April by Arcadia Publishing and the History Press, focuses on Bill Lowery, an Atlanta music talent scout and promoter who discovered and developed homegrown Cobb County talent that includes Billy Joe Royal, Joe South and Ray Stevens.
Lowery also launched the careers of Atlanta natives Tommy Roe and Jerry Reed and managed and recorded The Tams. The emergence of Lynyrd Skynyrd, .38 Special, Atlanta Rhythm Section and Classics IV also are included in this book, which covers a critical period in the history of Southern rock and popular music.
White and his wife Trisha operate the Your Extra Attic storage business on Lower Roswell Road near Johnson Ferry Road, but he’s also a singer, songwriter and musician who’s played live music and released two solo albums.
His most recent album, he says, is being completed with Rodney Mills, the noted Atlanta-area music producer and engineer.
This is White’s first book (he’s working on another, he says, that will include “some local Cobb County names and personalities and centers around a story that, for the most part, takes place in Marietta.” Williams, who has taught English at LaGrange college, is a published author, essayist, playwright and novelist.
The book signing event will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. July 26 at The Local Exchange (130 S. Park Square), and books can be purchased on-site.
The event takes place right before an 8 p.m. concert at Glover Park featuring The Tams, an Atlanta-based vocal group that had several hit records in the 1960s, including “What Kind of Fool (Do You Think I Am)” and “Be Young Be Foolish and Be Happy.”
“Atlanta Pop” features a chapter on the Tams, who also are included on the book’s cover, and who are scheduled to appear at the book signing.
The authors have created a Facebook page with more information about the book and related events.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Jill Dent, the branch manager of the Delta Community Credit Union branch on Johnson Ferry Road, and Regional Manager Eddie Johnson, the former East Cobb manager.
Submitted information and photo:
The Delta Community Credit Union branch at 1205 Johnson Ferry Road has a new manager. While the role is new to Jill Dent, her passion for serving members, especially at this branch, is not. She worked in customer service positions for more than a decade before coming to work for the Cobb County-based credit union.
“I’ve also been a member of Delta Community for more than 20 years, so I knew that any credit union that takes such good care of me as a customer would also be a good employer,” explained Dent. “I came to work in our Johnson Ferry Branch in 2016, and now I love this team, and I love this community.”
After beginning her career at Delta Community as a Member Service Agent, Dent was promoted to Assistant Manager of the Johnson Ferry branch in 2017. This month, she was tapped for the manager position after former manager Eddie Johnson was promoted to oversee all the Delta Community locations in North Fulton and Cobb County.
“We have a large number of business members who do their company’s banking here, thanks to the large number of nearby restaurants, retail stores and medical offices in East Cobb,” said Johnson. “Our members have very high expectations for hands-on customer service, and many of them will ask for a specific teller by name, and are willing to wait to see their favorite. Jill is well prepared to address members’ needs for trustworthy, dependable financial advice and products.”
Dent says she plans to continue being involved in community events, such as the East Cobber Festival, and partnerships with nearby schools like Walton and Pope High. But most of all, she’s excited to continue offering the superior service to our members they have come to expect.
“Many of our members visit on a regular basis – sometimes twice a week,” added Dent. “We have many wonderful opportunities to help them with their day-to-day banking needs, and also with those more complex, ‘lifetime’ milestones, such as buying a new home, or opening a business. I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to help.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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 another standstill over a proposed annexation and rezoning case on Lower Roswell Road that has dragged on for months, the Marietta City Council voted Wednesday to continue the delay.
By a 5-1 vote, the council approved a measure that would “stay” the annexation and rezoning proposals, along with related action to update the city’s future land use plan, for 90 days.
That’s to provide time for all the parties to discuss Cobb County’s objection to the rezoning based on density grounds and possibly to reschedule mediation between the city and county that was called off last month.
The stay was proposed by council member Michelle Cooper-Kelly, whose East Marietta ward would include the 7.46 acres at Lower Roswell and the Loop that Traton Homes wants to develop into 52 townhomes and single-family homes.
Residents in the adjacent Sewell Manor neighborhood in unincorporated Cobb have opposed the proposal, saying it’s too dense and would worsen traffic woes they face daily.
Many of them were on hand in Marietta council chambers Wednesday, bringing yellow “Save East Cobb” signs they have used during their fight.
Because of the proposed density of the project—nearly seven units an acre—the county had the right to object, but didn’t formalize that stance in January until it was too late.
The Marietta council twice delayed voting on the annexation and rezoning, which was recommended for denial by the city planning commission in April.
Last month Cobb commissioner Bob Ott met with Sewell Manor residents about their concerns, and told them there’s nothing legally preventing Marietta from annexing and rezoning the land.
A couple weeks later, another notice went up in Sewell Manor about Wednesday’s agenda item, but some residents said they weren’t sure until the last minute what might transpire.
The only council member voting against the delays on Wednesday was Joseph Goldstein, also of East Marietta, who urged there be public hearings before the 90-day period ends.
Cooper-Kelly’s motion would allow Traton, if nothing else happens, to withdraw its application after 90 days without prejudice, meaning it could refile and restart the annexation and rezoning process.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Shane Spink of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group told East Cobb News there’s still not a conceptual plan for a possible mixed-use development.
Some of the group’s leaders, including Spink, met last week with the developer, who’s been identified as Atlantic Residential of Atlanta, that specializes in residential and mixed-use developments.
The group, which counts more than 4,700 followers on Facebook, was informed last month about the developer’s interest, after years of haggling with the county and NAI Brannen Goddard, the managing agent for the Sprayberry Crossing Partnership owners, to do something about a long-standing eyesore at Sandy Plains and Piedmont.
Spink said while he was encouraged that the developer wants to get community input, “the details were a little fuzzy and I’m not sure they know exactly what they want to do there, mainly because there could be some larger commercial involved that would take up more space. This was a grocery chain and that didn’t seem concrete yet.”
He said the developer appears to prefer a project with a largely residential component, featuring townhomes, senior living and multi-family units on the 16-acre tract that now houses a few businesses, but that has been largely empty for years.
The details there, Spink said, are still to be revealed, “so we are waiting for the final draw up to see where we are and what we think the community will agree to.
“Bottom line is the community wants change so let’s see what they put on paper. It is such a complicated site with all the different parcels and of course the cemetery in the middle.”
A timeline for discussing a conceptual plan, after a survey and design are completed, may come about in a few weeks, Spink said.
“The bottom line on the residential is that it’s going to have to have a larger component [than what has] been proposed in the past just because that site isn’t going to work as 100 percent commercial. So the community is going to have to accept residential there or it’s probably not gonna work for any developer.”
Joe Glancy of Sprayberry Crossing has added some more details, including the map below of the current property. The green area would be redeveloped, with the yellow area currently containing commercial property.
The commercial portion of the new development, he said, “will likely be ground floor below the residential. The developer could envision that including a small grocer – but that is way down the road and far from certain.” Some greenspace figures to be contained as well.
“According to the developer, one of the reasons why this property is more attractive for residential development is that it sits enclosed with no street visibility and is already fronted by retail development. Additionally, the abundance of retail space surrounding the property makes a large retail commitment unlikely.”
He said Atlantic Residential will continue to survey the site over the next few weeks, develop a plan and bring it to the community.
The developer, he said, isn’t going to seek rezoning “until they are satisfied they have the support of the community.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
One of the oldest continuing events in all of Cobb County begins anew Friday night on the Marietta Campgrounds on Roswell Road—it’s the 182nd Marietta Campmeeting, a religious revival that traces its roots to the earliest settlers of what’s now East Cobb.
Friday’s opening service begins at 7:30 p.m., but it’s preceded by a picnic from 6-7, and you’re invited to bring a dish to share.
During the service, special music will be performed by the Open Door Trio, a metro Atlanta gospel group. The opening sermon will be delivered by Rev. Ike Reighard, senior pastor at the Piedmont Church in East Cobb and president and CEO of MUST Ministries.
There are twice-daily services during the week, daily services on the weekend and a number of special events during Marietta Campmeeting, including a watermelon cutting after the Saturday evening service and an ice cream social on Tuesday.
The campmeeting began in 1837, five years after Cobb County was carved out of Cherokee County, on land east of Marietta on Roswell Road.
Visiting ministers came in the summers, before there were many organized churches, and many of the longtime campmeeting families lived in tents during the revival.
They include names familiar to East Cobbers today—Sewell, Garrison, Murdock, Lassiter, Allgood, Hamby and other families who farmed in the area.
Many of their descendants continue attending today, as the Marietta Campground is now part of East Cobb United Methodist Church across the street.
That’s where overflow parking is available for attendees. The main parking lot is between the Arbor and Roswell Road, at the Campground entrance at 2300 Roswell Road.
All events and services at the Marietta Campmeeting are free and open to the public.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Motorists who travel through the Post Oak Tritt-Hembree Road intersection will have to wait a few months longer for the roundabout project underway there to be completed.
Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a request by the contractor, Glosson Enterprises, to push back the scheduled completion date to March 31, 2020.
Cobb DOT director Erica Parrish said the delay (summary here) was caused by utility and weather issues.
“I am ready to see this finished, and so is the public,” said District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell. “I appreciate the public’s patience.”
In other transportation-related action Tuesday, commissioners approved a contract for $308,901 with Tri Scapes Inc. for an eight-foot wide sidewalk with curb and gutter on the west side of Bells Ferry Road, from the Noonday Creek trailhead driveway to Big Shanty Road.
The total length of the project is approximately 0.32 miles. The funding comes from the Cobb 2016 SPLOST.
The county also will be saving $145,460 from the final cost of intersection improvements at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway. Glosson also was the contractor for the $1.86 million project, which has been completed.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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 restaurant scores from June 24-July 5 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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!
Today’s a special day around here: On July 8, 2017, I published the first post on East Cobb News, as I pushed the button on a venture I couldn’t have imagined not long ago.
I’ll admit I was a bit anxious as I pushed that inaugural publishing button, about the Skip Wells Memorial Ride at Sprayberry High School.
I’ve been a reporter for a long time, but not like this. I’ve covered my community before, but not with this ultimate objective:
To report the news for the East Cobb community, and not just about it.
There are plenty of news outlets that do that, when there’s a crime or a fire or a wreck or a storm or a controversy or a novelty.
And then they’re gone.
That credo sounds simple, but as I’ve learned over these last two years, it’s a lot more difficult to carry it through.
My focus all along has been to make East Cobb News distinctive, and not just because this community is my home, where I grew up.
Over the past year, as I built on my first year of publication, I got plenty of encouragement from readers, citizens and many others.
One of the things I heard on occasion was: You don’t have an agenda.
What they meant was that they thought the stories they read here were straightforward and objective.
While that’s certainly something I aim for with everything I post, there are times when it’s important to state a clear perspective about something important going on here.
The East Cobb Cityhood issue certainly fits that bill, and the next few months will be very important ones in the future of this community for that reason.
This time a year ago, we didn’t know there would be an effort to carve out a part of the community for a new city.
That effort, which we’ve reported on extensively, has galvanized the public like nothing in quite a few years around here. It figures to garner even more scrutiny as the legislature is set to act on a bill that could drop a referendum in East Cobb voters’ laps next year.
The truth is I do have an agenda, as noted this time a year ago, and it bears repeating: To “meet the news and information needs of this dynamic community we all call home, and to promote local businesses who help make it better.”
In this third year, as East Cobb News reaches around 30,000 unique visitors a month—a healthy number for a young, locally focused publication—my chief objective will be to help local businesses grow with us.
If you run a local business or organization, and want to reach community-minded customers, please check out our advertising philosophy, which includes flexible rates and options for any kind of enterprise.
We have a business directory that’s ideal for new businesses, solopreneurs and mom-and-pop shops that includes a 25 percent discount for display advertising on East Cobb News.
I realize that readers and advertisers have other options. This a competitive market for news and advertising, but only East Cobb News is totally devoted to covering news and events every day, as they happen.
If that’s important to you, I ask that you have a look around the site, if you’re not familiar already, and see for yourself.
I also encourage you to sign up for the East Cobb News Digest weekly e-mail newsletter, which comes out every Sunday. It contains all of the past week’s top headlines, plus calendar listings, a community guide and so much more.
It’s free and easy to sign up, all in one click below.
Thanks to all of you for visiting East Cobb News, subscribing to the newsletter and following us on social media. We’re excited for what Year Three has in store!
As always, feel free to get in touch with feedback and questions: wendy@eastcobbnews.com.
The U.S. Census Bureau is presenting 2020 Census Job Information Sessions this summer at Cobb County Public Libraries.
A Census official will discuss 2020 Census job opportunities and answer questions about applying during the free sessions. Area Census Bureau positions include assistants, clerks, office operations supervisors and census takers. Pay ranges vary based on location and position.
The upcoming 2020 Census Job Information Sessions at Cobb libraries include:
Each Tuesday afternoon through July 23 from 2 pm to 6 pm at Powder Springs Library, 4181 Atlanta Street, Powder Springs 30127. 770-439-3600
Wednesday, July 10 from 4 pm to 7 pm and Monday, July 22 from 11 am to 4 pm at Mountain View Regional Library, 3320 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta 30066. 770-509-2725
Friday, July 12 and Friday, July 19 from 10 am to 3 pm at South Cobb Regional Library is located at 805 Clay Road, Mableton 30126. 678-398-5828
For information on applying for 2020 Census jobs, including application requirements, visitwww.2020census.gov/jobs and click Apply Now. Potential applicants seeking information and assistance may call 1-855-JOB-2020 (562-2020) or use the Federal Relay Service at 800-877-8339.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
That’s the scene from a Georgia 511 camera at Roswell Road and Old Canton Road about 2:55 Friday, as Cobb Police and Cobb Fire are investigating a crash in a busy intersection that’s blocking eastbound traffic on Roswell.
UPDATED 3:40 PM: Cobb Police say all lanes of traffic are now open.
Police are urging motorists heading east on Roswell (the traffic in the right of the photo) to find an alternate route; there’s no word as yet on injuries.
We’ll update this story when more details are available.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Word is coming from Sprayberry High School that Jim Frazier, for many years a member of Yellow Jackets football coaching staff and a legendary figure in the school community’s history, died on Thursday.
“Our school and community will forever be grateful for the contributions made by this wonderful man,” was the message posted on the school’s Facebook page Friday afternoon.
We’ll have more later, but here’s a summary of Frazier’s tenure at Sprayberry, which went far beyond what his teams did in sports:
Frazier came to Sprayberry in 1959, a few years after it opened as East Cobb’s first high school.
While he was an assistant football coach, the Yellow Jackets won two county and two region titles in and three times finished the season in the state’s top 10.
He also coached baseball at Sprayberry before retiring from teaching in 1986, and served on the school’s football and baseball committees for nearly 50 years.
The Sprayberry football stadium is named after Frazier, a native of Tennessee who played football at Carson-Newman College and earned a master’s degree from Peabody College at Vanderbilt University.
Last August, his wife, Wilma Quarles Frazier, died at the age of 85. She taught at Sedalia Park Elementary School for 27 years.
The Fraziers were married for 61 years.
In 2015, State Rep. Don Parsons of East Cobb sponsored a resolution that was passed by the Georgia General Assembly to honor Frazier for his service to Sprayberry and the community.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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, July 13, is the second tour in a series of four at East Cobb’s Hyde Farm that includes a cooking class.
The 1840s-era homestead is at 721 Hyde Farm, located off Lower Roswell Road, and on the second Saturday of every month is open for 45-minute tours that are free and open to the public.
The 135-acre Hyde Farm, located near the Chattahoochee River, is also close to forests, agricultural fields, pastures, an orchard, meadows, a home and farm outbuilding sites.
Those tours begin at 10 am. and noon, and registration is required by visiting the Cobb PARKS website or by calling 770-528-8840.
In between the tours, Cobb PARKS, the UGA Cobb Extension service and the American Community Gardening Association will be conducting a class, “From Seed to Table: Cooking With Superfoods.”
It covers the basics of growing and cooking food from a garden. That class also is free and spots may be reserved by calling 770-528-4070.
More Hyde Farm tours and cooking classes are scheduled for Sept. 21 and Nov. 9.
Hyde Farm’s pond (above), built on Mulberry Creek, is the habitat for geese, ducks, herons, turtles, beaver and fish.
On Aug. 17, Cobb PARKS will hold another fishing rodeo at Hyde Farm that’s aimed for kids 3-16. Trophies will be awarded for the biggest fish (see calendar listing here).
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
