The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a gas station operated by Kroger at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center in East Cobb
By a vote of 3-1, the planning board voted in favor of the zoning request by Kroger from Neighborhood Shopping to Community Retail Commercial (agenda item information here).
Planning commission members Andy Smith of East Cobb, Skip Gunther and Galt Porter voted in favor; Thea Powell was opposed. Judy Smith of Northeast Cobb was absent.
The vote is advisory. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make the final decision on June 19.
Kroger wants to demolish a 10,000-square foot building on 14 acres in the front of the shopping center that’s been largely vacant for a gas station. The operating hours will be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.
The building used to be occupied by a Panera Bread store, and some other smaller spaces also are empty.
Garvis Sams, an attorney for Kroger, said the layout for the fueling station (see renderings at bottom) will be similar to another Kroger development on Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill Road that was approved earlier this year.
There will be no outside storage at the fueling station, and front signage will not be on top of the fueling canopy, addressing a concern by the East Cobb Civic Association.
He also said once the gas station closes at night, the outdoor lighting also will be turned off. The site is located next to an apartment complexes, and single-family homes are located a bit further behind.
Construction hours for the gas station would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and no work on Sunday.
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But before that, the Board of Commissioners will gather next week for a budget retreat.
That meeting is next Tuesday, June 12, at 1 p.m. in the Hudgins Hall Conference/Multipurpose Room of the Cobb County Civic Center (548 South Marietta Parkway).
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce has advocated raising the millage rate on property taxes as a way for the county to continue to deliver what he calls “five-star” services.
The county government is facing an estimated deficit for fiscal year 2019 of at least $30 million.
Boyce has initially suggested a millage increase of 1.1 mills (which would generate an extra $30 million in revenue) to the current general fund rate of 6.76.
In his weekly video update with county communications director Ross Cavitt (view below), he said that “1.1 mills just puts the finger in the dike.”
A full proposal to fund a balanced budget hasn’t been presented. However, the head of the county library system has proposed cutting nearly a quarter of the system’s $12 million budget and closing the East Cobb Library.
East Cobb’s commissioners generally have opposed property tax increases. Bob Ott of District 2 has said that he wouldn’t support an increase without seeing substantial cuts first. JoAnn Birrell of District 3 won her GOP primary last week after publicly opposing raising property taxes.
In the video, Boyce showed charts illustrating how Cobb’s millage rate has steadily come down over the last 25 or so years, being raised to address the recession. Two years ago, then-chairman Tim Lee, facing Boyce in a runoff, proposed an overall millage rate reduction to 9.85 (and 6.66 for the general fund) that passed, with Ott and Birrell voting with him.
“We have had a lower millage rate although our population has increased by more than 300,000” since the 1990s, Boyce said.
The town hall meetings are scheduled around the county, including another in East Cobb on July 9 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
Commissioners will hold public hearings on the budget and millage rate on July 10, 27 and 25, with adoption of both scheduled for July 25.
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Cobb PARKS is alerting us today that there’s still space available to attend the Hyde Farm Nature camp later this month.
It’s for rising third- through fifth-graders and takes place from June 18-22. The camp is an hour each day, from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., and the total cost per child for the week is $65.
Registration information is available on the poster below.
Hyde Farm also has some other day camps this summer in connection with The Art Place-Mountain View and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center.
The Hyde and Seek Artventure camps are for kids age 7-12. In addition to outdoor art sessions, campers will explore the Hyde Farm facility, hike to the Chattahoochee River and take in one of East Cobb’s most picturesque natural settings.
Those sessions cost $100 per child are from July 23-27 and are limited to 30 students each. One camp meets in the mornings, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the other in the afternoons, from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Parents must provide daily transportation to and from Hyde Farm (675 Hyde Farm Road).
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For the last few weeks, a clearance sale has been underway at Edward-Johns Jewelers, which has been located at Woodlawn Square Shopping Center (1205 Johnson Ferry Road) for years.
That’s because the long-time East Cobb business has been in the process of relocation. The new space is now open at 1225 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 801. It’s behind the Fidelity Bank building, a bit further up Johnson Ferry from the Woodlawn center.
Phone service (770-977-2026) is expected to be restored later today, and this week’s schedule is 10-5:30 today, Tuesday and Friday. The store will be closed Wednesday and Thursday.
A message on the Edward-Johns Facebook page said owner Johnny Johnson is undergoing emergency surgery and the business will be short-handed for the time being as it finally settles in its new location.
Johnson opened Edward-Johns Jewelers in 1979, and he has become an important and visible figure in the business, educational and civic community in East Cobb and Cobb County.
He’s been an East Cobb Citizen of the Year, is a past president of the Cobb County YMCA, served on the Cobb Board of Education and is a charter member of the East Cobb Kiwanis Club.
He also serves as Santa Claus for the Christmas Tree lighting at East Cobb Park.
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This week’s top stories includes the arrest of a Kell High School teacher on charges of sexually assaulting a student; an update on the forthcoming opening of the Northwest Corridor Express Lanes; an East Cobb student’s trip to Africa to build a soccer field for village children; and the opening of another long-anticipated restaurant.
From left to right: Robert Chappell, Maya Wade, David Woodward, William Roberts, Paris Williams, Congresswoman Karen Handel, Joseph McDermond, Aditya Mhaskar, Blaine McDonough of East Cobb, Connor McGurk, Hannah Percher of East Cobb, and Gabriela Boatright.
Three East Cobb students are among the 13 high school graduates appointed to attend U.S. military service academies by Congresswoman Karen Handel.
They include Connor Hasely of Walton High School (pictured below), who attended New York University. He was appointed to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.
Connor Haseley
Another Walton graduate, Blaine McDonough, will attend the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.
Lassiter High School’s Hannah Percher has been appointed to attend the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y.
“The Sixth District produced an extraordinary group of candidates for our nation’s military academies this year,” Handel said in a statement. “This is one of the responsibilities I have relished the most during my time in Washington, and I’m so proud of these young men and women for their willingness to serve their country.”
A Pope High School graduate also has received an appointment by Congressman Barry Loudermilk. Sarah Sorensen will attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md.
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This isn’t taking place until the end of next week, but Piedmont Road around the railroad tracks will be closed briefly to make repairs to the tracks.
A very bumpy crossing is going to be smoothed over with new tracks and pads and sidewalks, and the road repaved, and it’s long been the subject of complaints from motorists.
The closure on Piedmont between Canton Road and Morgan Road begins at 5 a.m. Friday, June 8, and is expected to be reopened by 12 p.m. the following day, Saturday, June 9.
Here’s more information from Cobb DOT about what’s going on, and how you can get around if that’s a route you normally use:
Electronic closure warning signs will be installed on each side of the railroad announcing the pending closure and detour signs will also be installed. Alternate routes will include Ebenezer/Blackwell roads to the north and Morgan/Liberty Hill roads to the south.
Patriot Rail, formally known as Georgia Northeastern Railroad, staff will remove the existing tracks across Piedmont Road and replacing with new ballast, ties and rails including pre-cast concrete crossing panels instead of the existing rubber crossing pads. Once that work is complete, a Cobb Department of Transportation contractor will add asphalt on each side before the road can be reopened to traffic. Between June 9 and June 30, the contractor will add curb, gutter, sidewalk and drainage structures using temporary lane closures to complete the project. Funding for this project is part of the voter approved 2016 Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.
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A Kell High School teacher arrested on Friday for sexual assault remains in the Cobb County Adult Detention Center today.
Spencer Wayne Herron, 48, was taken into custody at his Acworth home Friday afternoon. He has been charged with three felony counts of sexual assault by a teacher or school administrator.
His bail has been set at $50,000, according to the Cobb Sheriff’s Office.
Herron, who has been a video teacher at Kell for 16 years, was named the school’s teacher of the year two years ago.
Arrest warrants indicate Herron has been accused of having sex multiple times with a student on campus from early 2016 through the school year that just ended last month.
This past school year, Herron was a member of the Cobb County School District’s Superintendent’s Teacher Advisory Council.
East Cobb News does not publish photographs of crime suspects before their cases have gone through the legal system, and then only if they are convicted or plead guilty and are sentenced.
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An interchange at Roswell Road and I-75 will be one of several entry and exit points for East Cobb motorists using the Northwest Corridor lanes. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
The Northwest Corridor Project express lanes designed to relieve traffic on I-75 and I-575 in Cobb and Cherokee counties are anticipated to be fully operational by the Labor Day weekend.
But now’s a good time to purchase the required passes for driving along the nearly 30 miles of managed lanes, which are nearly complete after more than five years of planning and construction.
That’s the message from Steven Lively, the Georgia Department of Transportation’s program delivery manager for major projects.
Earlier this week, he provided an update to the East Cobb Civic Association. While the general expected opening of the lanes is still “late summer,” he said “we hope to have traffic in the system by Labor Day.”
Resurfacing I-75 along the Express Lanes route, and on I-285 between the Chattahoochee River and Cobb Parkway is expected to be done by Aug. 31, he said.
The “Peach Pass” is currently being used on other managed lane and toll routes in Georgia, and will soon be expanded to the Northwest Corridor Project.
The pass is an electronic transponder device with an adhesive that sticks to a windshield or front bumper. Motorists purchase the passes in advance of their first time using the lanes, and then refill their accounts with money, depending on how much they use the lanes.
“We encourage people to use the system when it benefits them,” Lively said. “It may not be an everyday option but you get to make a choice.”
Motorists can apply online here to set up an account (for an initial fee of $20), and passes will be mailed. There’s also a mobile app for the Peach Pass.
The costs will be based on what’s called “dynamic pricing,” which rise as demand increases and is reduced during off-peak hours, Lively said.
Fines will apply to motorists who enter the lanes without a Peach Pass, or with one that’s expired, or if an account has insufficient funds, as well as for driving a vehicle that’s unregistered for Peach Pass use (more on fines here).
The finishing touches of the project, including testing of electronic signs and other devices at the interchanges, are underway now, according to Lively, who said the project is around 95 percent complete.
The $834 million project—the biggest in state transportation history—stretches in two lanes along I-75 from Akers Mill Road to Hickory Grove Road in Acworth. Three of the six interchanges will be easily accessible to East Cobb motorists: Akers Mill Road, Terrell Mill Road and Roswell Road.
The Express Lanes also include a spur at the I-75 junction that then goes up I-575 in a single lane to Sixes Road near Canton. Three sets of “slip ramps” include a northbound exit and a southbound entrance at Shallowford Road in Northeast Cobb.
The managed lanes will be for southbound traffic in the morning, and northbound traffic in the afternoon rush hour. Lively said the express lanes will be closed for three hours in between to clear vehicles and reverse the direction of the traffic flow.
Georgia DOT estimates that the Express Lanes can ultimately save motorists up to 43 minutes on their daily commute time, depending on how long their travel is on that route, and that drivers in the general lanes could have their traffic time reduced by as much as 16 minutes.
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Submitted information about the Cobb Public Library summer reading program:
Bring your whole family to enjoy the SummerReading Program Kickoff Party 5-7 p.m., Saturday, June 2, at the Switzer Library in downtown Marietta. This event is free and open to the public. Come dressed in your favorite dancing outfit from your favorite decade for the Decades Dance Party. The family-friendly DJ will be playing all the best hits from the ’50s to today. Cobb Police Department staff will bring police vehicles to explore. Enjoy kid yoga, balloon volleyball, arts, crafts and music-centered story time.
The Atlanta Dream will lead basketball drills and the mascot, Star, will be on-hand for high fives. The Atlanta Dream will also give away tickets to its Sunday, June 3, game to children who attend the kickoff party. Adults can purchase discounted tickets and half of the proceeds will go to the Cobb Library Foundation.
The Switzer Library is located at 266 Roswell Street near downtown Marietta.
The June calendar of events at library branches in East Cobb includes movie screenings at Sewell Mill on Saturday, as well as a session on travel tips from AAA on Saturday at the East Cobb Library from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
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U.S. Rep. Karen Handel is urging President Donald Trump to reconsider tariffs he imposed today against steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and European Union nations.
The tariffs, which will go into effect Friday, will add a 25 percent duty to steel imports and a 10 percent duty to aluminum imports from some of the top trading partners of the U.S.
Handel, a Roswell Republican whose 6th Congressional District includes East Cobb, said while she supports Trump’s efforts to renegotiate trade deals, the decision announced Thursday “threatens to dampen” what she said was “recent progress” on the economy.
Handel was referring to Trump’s tax reform legislation that she vocally supported. In a series of messages on her official Twitter account, Handel said the tariffs “do not further the goal of fostering more equitable trade.”
Earlier this month she cautioned against the tariffs that came down today, urging a more “surgical” approach that would avoid retaliation.
Georgia’s two Republican U.S. Senators, Johnny Isakson of East Cobb and David Perdue of Macon, also do not support the latest tariffs. In March Trump issued similar tariffs on other nations, but exempted Canada, Mexico and the EU.
Isakson said the tariffs would hurt the auto industry, and Handel’s district includes the USA headquarters for Mercedes-Benz and other companies that could be adversely affected by Thursday’s decision.
Also coming out against the new tariffs is U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican who is retiring from Congress after this year.
Handel, elected last year in a special election to succeed former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, is running for re-election in November for what would be her first full term. Her opponent will be Lucy McBath or Kevin Abel, who face off in a July 24 Democratic runoff.
Trump won the strongly Republican 6th District with only 51 percent of the vote in 2016. According to an analysis by the political website FiveThirtyEight, Handel has voted with Trump’s positions on major issues and legislation more than 87 percent of the time.
That does not include recent tariff impositions.
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Democrat Caroline Holko (right) got more votes than Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell (left) in the Cobb Commission District 3 primary. But more GOP voters cast ballots in that race on May 22.
Here’s an East Cobb elections update, with official tallies from the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration, which this week certified the results of the May 22 primaries. We’ve provided the official numbers below of East Cobb-area races, but here are a few other figures of note:
A total of 84,284 Cobb voters cast ballots, a turnout of 17.8 percent of the 473,356 registered voters in the county;
More Cobb voters voted for Republican candidates at the top of the statewide ticket (governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, etc.) than for Democrats, but only by a slight margin, around 42,000 to around 41,000 on average.
Cobb Commission District 3
Caroline Holko (D): 5,767
JoAnn Birrell (R, incumbent): 5,634
Tom Cheek (R): 3,973
James Smith (D): 1,393
Cobb School Board Post 4
David Chastain (R, incumbent): 4,600
Cynthia Parr (D): 3,469
Cobb School Board Post 6
Scott Sweeney (R, incumbent): 4,844
Charisse Davis (D): 4,562
State Senate District 32
Kay Kirkpatrick (R, incumbent): 11,994
Christine Triebsch (D): 8,502
State House District 37
Sam Teasley (R, incumbent): 3,012
Mary Frances Williams (D): 1,964
Ragin Edwards (D): 514
Bill Bolton (D): 327
State House District 43
Sharon Cooper (R, incumbent): 3,034
Luisa Wakeman (D): 2,641
State House District 44
Don Parsons (R, incumbent): 2,953
Chinita Allen (D): 2,373
Homer Crothers (R): 760
State House District 45
Matt Dollar (R, incumbent): 3,834
Essence Johnson (D): 2,597
State House District 46
John Carson (R, incumbent): 2,788
Karín Sandiford (D): 1,881
U.S. House District 6
Karen Handel (R, incumbent): 13,996
Lucy McBath (D): 4,226
Kevin Abel (D): 3,019
Bobby Kaple (D): 2,762
Steven K. Griffin (D): 740
These are Cobb voting totals only; there will be a Democratic runoff on July 24 between McBath and Abel. There will be Republican runoff the same day in the governor’s race between current Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and current Secretary of State Brian Kemp.
The Cobb precinct-by-precinct voting totals can be found here. Several East Cobb precincts had higher than 20 percent turnout:
Addison, 23.4 percent;
Blackwell, 20 percent;
Chattahoochee, 20 percent;
Chestnut Ridge, 23 percent;
Dickerson, 23 percent;
Dodgen, 24 percent;
Davis, 21 percent;
Eastside 1, 25 percent
Eastside 2, 26.8 percent;
Elizabeth 2, 21 percent;
Elizabeth 3, 23.5 percent;
Elizabeth 5, 21 percent;
Fullers Park, 21.87 percent;
Garrison Mill, 23.64 percent;
Gritters, 20.23 percent;
Hightower, 22 percent;
Lassiter, 20 percent;
Mabry, 21.61 percent;
Murdock, 23 percent;
McCleskey, 24 percent;
Marietta 6B, 23 percent;
Mt. Bethel 1, 22.61 percent;
Mt. Bethel 3, 21.95 percent;
Mt. Bethel 4, 23.56 percent;
Pope, 20 percent;
Roswell 1, 22 percent;
Sandy Plains, 20 percent;
Shallowford Falls, 22.65 percent;
Sope Creek 1, 28.29 percent;
Sope Creek 3, 22.79 percent;
Timber Ridge, 23.84 percent;
Willeo, 23.21 percent.
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Cobb Police have issued a Mattie’s Call alert for an East Cobb woman who left her home Wednesday night and has not been seen since.
Marie Proffitt Long, 74, left her residence on Bluff Stone Terrace in a red 2000 Toyota Sienna van around 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to Cobb Police, who said the Georgia tag number on her vehicle is PNL6421.
Police said she is around 5-foot-5 and weighs around 110 pounds. She has red hair, blue eyes and was last seen wearing dark pants, a flowered shirt and running shoes.
The residence is off Steinhauer Road, near Shallowford Road and Lassiter High School.
Mattie’s Calls are issued for elderly or disabled persons. Anyone with information about her whereabouts is asked to call Cobb County Police at 770-499-3911.
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From Cobb Police Sgt. Jeff Tattroe, head of the department’s Community Affairs Unit:
Tomorrow, June 1st, from 5am till 11am, the COPS ON DONUT SHOPS will take place, in partnership with Dunkin Donuts. This event brings together law enforcement and Dunkin Donut stores across Georgia with the goal of raising funds and awareness for Special Olympics Georgia!
Officers from the Cobb County Police Department will be at the following stores, spread throughout Cobb County:
1) 4311 Bells Ferry Road
2) 836 Veterans Memorial Highway
3) 2651 Cobb Parkway NW
4) 980 East Piedmont Road
5) 2475 Dallas Highway
As part of National Donut Day, which is tomorrow, every guest will receive a FREE donut with the purchase of one beverage. Please stop by one of the above stores to take part, make a donation to Special Olympics, and say hello to your Cobb County Police.
Let’s make this program a HUGE success in Cobb. If you are not able to stop by tomorrow morning, you can still make a difference for Special Olympics Georgia by visiting specialolympicsga.ejoinme.org/donuts. Please enter Cobb County Police when prompted to do so to show your support.
Thank you and we look forward to saying hello tomorrow morning. Please keep in mind, the officers are only set up to accept U.S. currency tomorrow morning.Every donation counts, so let’s do this as a community.
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An East Cobb Kroger gas station would replace vacant space at the Pavilions of East Lake Shopping Center where a Panera Bread restaurant was located.
That’s among the requests on the June zoning agenda in Cobb County.
The Cobb Planning Commission will hear cases next Tuesday, June 5. The Cobb Zoning Staff released its final analysis on Tuesday (full agenda here), and is recommending approval of the gas station request (agenda packet item here) with several conditions, including the district commissioner making minor modifications, and to incorporate recommendations and comments from the site plan review, stormwater management review and Cobb DOT review of the application.
Kroger wants to rezone 14.55 acres of the East Lake complex at 2100 Roswell Road from the current Neighborhood Shopping to Community Retail Commercial. The area includes a 10,000-square-foot building that would be demolished for the fueling center.
The anchor space in that building has been empty for several years after Panera Bread closed. Existing businesses would be relocated to other empty spaces at East Lake.
Kroger said in the application the hours for the fueling center would be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, and include a kiosk with seven pumps and an air station.
A stipulation letter in the application from Garvis Sams, the applicant’s attorney, to the East Cobb Civic Association indicates that construction hours for the gas station would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and no work on Sunday.
An apartment complex is located next to the proposed gas station site, and no construction vehicles would be parked on an adjoining road. There also would be no signage on the top of the gas station canopy.
A few other East Cobb cases to be heard Tuesday by the planning commission include:
ANE Investments, Inc., for 0.94 acres on Jamerson Road, south of Canton Road, for an automotive shop (staff recommends denial for comprehensive plan reasons);
Duncan Land Investments Inc., for 1.93 acres on Wesley Chapel Road and across from Loch Highland Parkway for four single-family homes (staff recommends denial for density reasons);
Oak Hall Companies, LLC, for 96 acres on Wigley Road for 92 single-family homes (the case was held by the planning commission, tentatively until July, for density, runoff and other reasons).
The planning commission meeting will take place at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb County government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
Final decisions on zoning matters will be made by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on June 19.
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Jacqueline Alford, District Director of the Foothills District of the Boy Scouts America, sent us some information to pass along about two informational meetings they’re having next week in East Cobb regarding their first Family Cub Scouting Packs.
They’re for boys and girls who have completed pre-K through the 5th grade.
Pack 270 will hold an informational sign-up party next Tuesday, June 5, at the Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation (4010 Canton Road), at 6:30 p.m.
Next Thursday, June 7, Pack 518 will have a similar event, also starting at 6:30 p.m., at the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation (1200 Indian Hills Parkway).
Alford told us the family program has been around for a while, but has been expanded to include incoming kindergarteners and girls, who’ve been fully invited to join what’s also been renamed Scouts BSA.
She added:
A misconception is often that the Boy Scouts of America did this just to include girls, while that is true, it was more so to address the family as a whole. By opening the program to girls, families with boys and girls can now do the Cub Scouting together. Even before this announcement, sisters and cousins were going to Pack meetings and camp outs, but missed out on some of what the boys got to do. This now allows the girls to earn ranks and learn.
Because of this, there can now be three types of Packs: all boy Packs, all girl Packs, and family Packs (Packs with girls and boys, but Dens will be separated by gender).
The Foothills District includes around 25 or so packs of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts in the East Cobb area.
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Georgia DOT camera photo, shortly after 4 p.m. Tuesday.
Shortly before 4 p.m. today, Marietta Police said that multiple Interstate 75 accidents just south of the South Marietta Parkway have caused the closing of all five southbound lanes of traffic.
One northbound lane is also blocked in the same area.
Police said there have been four individual accidents involving five vehicles and a tractor-trailer, which jacknifed.
There is no word on injuries as of now.
The Georgia State Patrol is working the scene with Marietta and Cobb police officers, and the estimated time of clearing all lanes is around 6 p.m.
A heavy rain shower passed through Marietta and East Cobb around 3:30 p.m. as most of metro Atlanta and much of north Georgia remains under a flash flood watch until 8 a.m. Wednesday.
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Max Kaplan, who’s 11 years old and plays in the East Cobb-based North Atlanta Tophat Soccer Association, is planning a trip to Kenya early next year to help build a soccer field there for other children.
His mother Amy Kaplan tells us he’s raising money through GoFundMe for the both of them to travel to the East African nation to participate in the field-building project through Crooked Trails, which is organizing the effort in a remote Kenyan village.
Max is a rising sixth grader at Hightower Trail Middle School. The Kaplans want to collect $8,000 in donations for the trip and began the fundraising page last week.
Here’s more about the project’s objectives from Crooked Trails, which describes itself as “travel with a purpose:”
To immerse participants in the social, spiritual, cultural and economic life of a native community;
To share in a remarkable travel experience with fellow participants who hold a desire to make the world a better place;
To complete a meaningful volunteer service project with community support
To return to home with a measurable appreciation and greater understanding of the Maasai people and the incredible wildlife of Kenya;
To gain valuable soccer skills and game ethics by spending close time with great soccer coaches.
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Shortly before noon today, the East Cobb Taqueria Tsunami (1275 Johnson Ferry Road) announced on its Facebook page it’s holding its grand opening today and Wednesday with dinner service from 5-9 p.m.
Regular hours commence Thursday with lunch service beginning at 11 a.m., followed by the same dinner hours.
That’s all we have for now, but here’s what we’ve been posting since Fork U Concepts began the process of converting the former Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagel space last fall, with a new site plan that includes a reconfigured parking lot to accommodate 42 spaces.
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The National Weather Service has included Cobb County in a flash flood watch until Wednesday morning due to rains stemming from Subtropical Storm Alberto.
The watch was to begin at 2 p.m. Monday and covers most of north and central Georgia. The heavy rains could cause flooding in rivers, lakes, streams and other low-lying areas.
Alberto was making landfall on the northwest Florida Gulf Coast early Monday afternoon, according to the NWS, which also included this information in its watch alert:
Subtropical storm Alberto will continue northward into eastern Alabama through this evening bringing abundant moisture and rainfall along and east of its track. This will allow for increased rainfall potential across the area. Although average rainfall totals will average 2 to 3 inches, some areas could see as much as 4 to 5 inches through Tuesday night. Creek and river levels are already above average and will not take much additional rainfall to cause levels to rise above bankfull.
Several creeks and rivers will rise out of their banks closing roads and impacting homes, businesses and farms. High water may not recede until well after the rain has ended.
The chance of rain in Cobb and metro Atlanta is expected to increase later on Monday afternoon and overnight and through Tuesday, possibly up to a 90 percent chance. We could get up to three-quarters of an inch of rain Tuesday night.
In addition to the rain and possible flash floods, foggy conditions may also be present.
The watch period ends at 8 a.m. Wednesday.
On Wednesday, thunderstorms are likely, especially on Wednesday evening, with the chance of storms tapering off as the week continues.
High temperatures Monday and Tuesday will be in the high 70s and lows in the high 60s. From Wednesday through Thursdays, highs could reach into the mid-to-high 80s with lows in the low 70s.
Sunny skies are not expected to return until Saturday.
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