It’s one of the main projects of the non-profit foundation, which raises private funds to assist the Cobb County School District.
Next Saturday, Jan. 20, the foundation is holding a major fundraiser at SunTrust Park with a “Casino Night” theme, and tickets are still available, as well as sponsorships.
The event lasts from 7-11 p.m., and the attire is black tie optional.
Individual tickets cost $150, and sponsorships run between $1,000 and $10,000. To sign up, click here.
For information call 770-426-3390 or email natalie.rutledge@cobbschoolsfoundation.org.
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!
From a winter weather advisory one day to mid-60-degree temperatures the next? That’s how this week started out in East Cobb and around metro Atlanta.
The warming trend is expected to continue through the rest of the week, with highs edging into the low 60s through Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
But chilly weather will be back for the weekend, with highs Saturday and Sunday expected to be only in the high 30s.
Lows will dip into the 20s on those nights, and for next week, temperatures are not forecast to get higher than the low 40s. Low temperatures below freezing are also expected.
By next weekend, it may start to get warmer, into the 50s.
But it’s still winter, which means it can often feel a little like spring, fall and winter, sometimes in the span of one week.
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!
Elected officials, appointees and Cobb library and parks and recreation staff officially christen the new Sewell Mill facility. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center came a month after the multi-use facility opened on Lower Roswell Road, next to where its predecessor, the East Marietta Library, once stood for nearly 50 years.
Pieces of the old building were distributed to the dozens of guests and dignitaries who crowded the new facility’s black box theater for presentations, and the honorary ribbon-cutting that followed.
As the long history of the venerable East Marietta building was recounted by several speakers, the vision for what’s replacing it was spelled out in excited detail.
With more than 28,000 square feet, the Sewell Mill branch easily dwarfs East Marietta, which opened with 8,600 square feet in 1967.
But it’s the scope of the offerings at the new facility, and its joint association between the Cobb library and parks and recreation departments, that is novel, reflecting what Cobb commissioner Bob Ott described as the “phenomenal” vision of the staffers who saw the project through over several years.
“This truly is the library of the future,” said Julie Walker, the state librarian of Georgia.
In addition to traditional library space, the Sewell Mill branch includes the black box theater, an outdoor amphitheater and cultural “maker” space with digital audio and video recording equipment.
The theater offers regular film screenings and concerts will be a regular part of the schedule. There’s also a teen room and space for writers and filmmakers meet-ups, and classes in digital photography, podcasting, comics, art and music appreciation.
The entire Cobb Board of Commissioners, State Rep. Sharon Cooper, State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, former Cobb County Manager Dave Hankerson and appointees to the Cobb library and recreation boards were present for the event, which also included a special presentation to longtime Cobb Library Foundation board members Carol and Jim Ney.
For their financial support, the Neys were honored by having the Sewell Mill branch’s art gallery named after them, as well as an outdoor patio that adjoins the main reading room.
Jim and Carol Ney honored by Cobb commissioners before the ribbon-cutting.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce and his wife, Judy, also had a study room named in their honor. Boyce said they made a $5,000 donation, but to him, “it was self-evident” to support such a project.
“People are going to have to come see this to appreciate the benefits,” said Boyce. In his ribbon-cutting remarks, he said that “we have gone to great lengths to create a library that I am convinced is revolutionary.”
But its evolution has been a long one, primarily for financial reasons.
The Sewell Mill Library cost $10.6 million to build, with all but $2 million coming out of SPLOST funding (the rest came from state sources). Ott, who was first elected in 2008, said discussions about replacing the East Marietta Library predated his time on the commission.
He recalls hearing his District 2 predecessor, the late Joe Lee Thompson, say to him that a new library was inevitable. “Every year, he told me to be patient,” Ott said. “It’s coming. I don’t know if he thought it would be like this.”
Those plans were put on hold in the wake of the recession. Last fall, as commissioners were haggling over budget details, they temporarily delayed full funding of the Sewell Mill branch, which has additional staff positions.
Those positions were funded and the Sewell Mill library opened on Dec. 4. But as a new year beckons, commissioners are facing a projected $30 million shortfall for fiscal 2019. Soon, department heads will be asked to bring forth proposed budget cuts, and libraries and parks are certain to be among them.
What about those who may regard the Sewell Mill concept as an extravagance?
“Only if you consider your children and grandchildren as an extravagance,” said Boyce, who’s beginning his second year in office.
He noted that while those of an older generation may envision libraries in a more traditional, print-focused way, the multi-platform educational, intellectual and cultural options for younger people need to be accommodated.
“This is not the old library,” Boyce said.
The Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center has the same address (2051 Lower Roswell Road) and the same hours as the former East Marietta Library:
Monday-Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.;
Thursday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.;
Saturday, 1-6 p.m.;
Closed Sunday.
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 Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved spending $13,865 for preliminary engineering work and utility relocation in advance of the Post Oak Tritt-Hembree Road intersection project, which could feature the construction of a roundabout.
The $2.2 million project (here’s the brochure) is included in the Cobb Government 2016 SPLOST. Other aspects of the project include additional street lighting and sidewalk improvements.
The intersection has no traffic signals, and only a stop sign on Hembree and a left turn lane from Post Oak Tritt eastbound onto Hembree offer traffic control.
“This has been a long time coming,” Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, noting the intersection’s proximity to Pope High School, further north on Hembree Road, where a roundabout was completed just before the start of the current school year.
The Post Oak Tritt-Hembree Road intersection project is expected to get underway this spring, with an expected completion date in mid-2019.
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!
Coming soon to Woodlawn Square Shopping Center (1205 Johnson Ferry Road): Hollywood Feed, a natural pet food and supply store chain that’s growing in metro Atlanta.
They’re hiring for the East Cobb location, as well as several others in the region. Based in Memphis, Hollywood Feed operates in eight states in the South, and currently has eight stores in Georgia.
The new Hollywood Feed store at Woodlawn Square will take up suites 119 and 121, in space formerly occupied by the Sweet Spirit Christian bookstore.
Café 33 closes in Sprayberry area
In case you missed the story we posted over the weekend: Café 33, a family-homestyle restaurant operated near Sprayberry High School by former Yellow Jackets football player and Shane Clements, closed on New Year’s Eve.
The restaurant specialized in breakfast and lunch fare and also added a dinner menu, but cited a drop in foot traffic and landlord issues for shutting after more than six years.
New venue for ECBA luncheons
The East Cobb Business Association‘s monthly luncheons are moving to the Olde Towne Athletic Club (4950 Olde Towne Parkway) after several years at the Indian Hills Country Club.
The ECBA kicks off its 2018 luncheon slate next Tuesday, Jan. 16, with Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce as the featured speaker. The event lasts from 11-1, starting with networking and the luncheon session starting at 11:30 a.m.
On Jan. 30, Cobb Police Precinct 4 Major Jerry Quan is the guest at the ECBA’s quarterly breakfast at J. Christopher’s East Lake (2100 Roswell Road) from 7:30-8:30 a.m.
The Northeast Cobb Business Association holds its monthly luncheon next Wednesday, Jan. 17, at its usual spot, the Piedmont Church (570 Piedmont Road), from 11:30-1. The guest speaker is Ryan Blythe from the Georgia Trade School in Acworth.
Business women who lunch
The next East Cobb Business Women Networking Lunch is scheduled for next Wednesday, Jan. 17, at Paradise Grille, in the Highland Plaza Shopping Center (3605 Sandy Plains Road) from 11:30-1. The cost to attend is free, you just pay for your own food, bring business cards and network in a supportive environment.
The host is Resonate Marketing, a female-run agency. Luncheons are the third Wednesday of the month.
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!
As Cobb schools and many private schools are closed today, some businesses and local government are opening on a delayed basis.
Cobb government, including libraries, opened at 11 a.m. and will stay open through their normal opening hours. Here’s the latest on what we know about East Cobb businesses opening later than usual:
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church will “adhere to our regular schedule” on Monday;
Peace, Love and Pizza: Opening at 12;
Johnny’s Style New York Pizza: Tentatively opening at 1 p.m.;
LGE Community Credit Union is opening all branches at noon;
All paid YMCA programs at both the East Cobb and Northeast Cobb facilities today are cancelled;
Chicago’s Steak & Seafood: Facebook message says it’s closed all day, not for the weather but rather “in observance of” the Georgia-Alabama college football national championship game.
Light rain was still falling in the late morning in East Cobb, with temperatures in the mid 30s.
Shortly after 11 a.m. today, the National Weather Service in Atlanta extended the winter weather advisory issued for overnight and through this morning from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
According to the NWS, there is still “patchy light freezing rain” causing treacherous road conditions as temperatures push above freezing and into the low 40s in Cobb and metro Atlanta early this afternoon. Scattered showers are expected around the Atlanta area for the rest of the day and into the evening, when downtown will be taken over by those attending the Alabama-Georgia game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Atlanta and Fulton County governments were closing early for that reason as well, and the first day of the Georgia General Assembly adjourned late this morning in anticipation of weather and football-related traffic.
The NWS said freezing rain issues have been more serious in northwest Georgia. One media report indicated a 35-car pile-up in Catoosa County shut down Interstate 75 earlier this morning near Ringgold due to icy roads.
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!
Among the later cancellations and postponements due to the winter weather conditions was this morning’s education rights workshop at Art It Out at Paper Mill Village.
It covers topics related to students and disabilities with Tim Schwartz, an attorney who speciliazes in the subject area.
It has been postponed for two weeks exactly from today, Monday, Jan. 22, at the same time, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and at the same place. Art It Out is located at 255 Village Parkway, 580.
The workshop is free.
Here’s the calendar listing for that event, which also requires registration by calling 770-726-9589.
Around 7:20 p.m. Sunday, the Cobb County School District announced that the system will be completely closed on Monday, for students and staff, due to a forecast of freezing rain overnight and into the morning.
That follows a winter weather advisory from the Atlanta office of the National Weather Service issued earlier Sunday afternoon. It’s a tiered advisory, going into effect for Cobb and metro Atlanta and north central Georgia from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. Monday.
The forecast calls for light freezing rain, with an accumulation of up to 1/10th of an inch possible. In its announcement, Cobb schools said the potential impact on roads and travel was enough to prompt a full closure.
UPDATED, 8:50 P.M.:
Here are the latest closings/delays we have for the East Cobb area. If you have closures to report, please e-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll include it in future updates.
The Walker School will be closed on Monday, as will High Meadows School; Eastside Christian School; Eastminster Christian Preschool; St. Catherine’s Episcopal Preschool; St. Ann’s Catholic Preschool and Monday Masses; and Transfiguration Catholic Preschool, PREP classes and adult ed classes.
All campuses of Kennesaw State University and Chattahoochee Technical College also will be closed Monday.
Paid programming events (swimming lessons, etc.) at the McCleskey-East Cobb Family YMCA and the Northeast Cobb Family YMCA are being cancelled on Monday.
The Cobb Chamber of Commerce breakfast scheduled for Monday morning also has been postponed.
Cobb County government announced that its offices would be open on a delayed basis, at 11 a.m. Monday. That includes all public library branches.
The LGE Community Credit Union is delaying opening all branches until noon Monday.
Returning to original post:
The NWS forecast indicated that the possible icy conditions were likely to be enough to affect the Monday morning commute.
Over the weekend, City of Atlanta and Fulton County government announced they would be closing early Monday, in part because of the weather but also due to the national college football championship game tomorrow night between Georgia and Alabama at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Georgia and Cobb DOT trucks also were going out overnight to treat roads ahead of the freezing rain. Cobb trucks were slated to begin salt treatment of bridges and overpasses around 2 a.m. Monday.
Shortly after Cobb schools announced they would be closed the Marietta, Atlanta and Fulton school systems, and others around metro Atlanta, also said they would be closed Monday.
After a very cold first week of 2018, temperatures in Cobb and metro Atlanta are expected to climb into the low 40s by Monday afternoon. Highs are forecast to be in the 50s during the week and even into the 60s by the weekend.
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 East Cobb News Digest is delivered every Sunday afternoon, and contains so much more, including the best calendar listings anywhere in East Cobb and convenient community information.
Subscribing to the newsletter is free and easy (just click the signup link below). We don’t sell or rent our e-mail listings to anyone.
We know you’re busy, and that don’t want you to miss out on what’s going on around you. Sign up today and be part of East Cobb’s only daily news source, independently operated and with totally local focus.
Thanks for subscribing, and for reading East Cobb News!
The Pope girls basketball team attacks the rim in the first game played in the new gym, which opened to the public Saturday. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
After dignitaries, architects, construction engineers and school administrators were honored for their work making the new Pope High School gymnasium possible, the varsity girls basketball team made easy work of their opponent in the facility’s first event on Saturday.
The Lady Greyhounds trounced Chattahoochee 55-13, and the Greyhounds boys team also downed Chattahoochee 70-58, adding to the celebrations that brought out the Pope community.
From left, Pope principal Thomas Flugum, and Cobb County School District athletics directors Steve Jones and William Griggers.
The multi-level gym includes a running track on the top level, and peeking room at the floor down below.
Nick Parker, the executive director of the Cobb County School District SPLOST program, which oversees school construction, said the building of the new gym and adjoining theater (next to the existing gym) was one of the smoothest he’s experienced. He said the gym, which along with the theater cost nearly $24 million and took two years to build, will eventually have a capacity of 3,000, and will add 200 or so seats on the top level.
Representatives of the Pope PTSA were among those recognized at the gym opening.Pope parents and students applaud as the new court is ready for action.The Lady Greyhounds huddle up during pre-game warm-ups.
And it’s tipoff between Pope and Chattahoochee.Teya Holloman brings the ball up for Pope.The Lady Greyhounds’ defense didn’t allow a point in the first quarter.Cheyenne Holloman, who scored the first basket in the new gym, demonstrates her free throw form.Players on the Pope boys varsity team wait for their chance to play in the new gym.At halftime of the girls game, past Lady Greyhounds players took part in a 3-point shooting contest on Alumni Night.
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!
Late Friday night the Café 33 restaurant on East Piedmont Road announced it has closed, but gave no reason for the decision. The restaurant’s website also has been taken down, and the last day of business was New Year’s Eve.
On the restaurant’s Facebook page was the following message:
Cafe 33 would like to Thank all of our loyal customers who have supported us during the last 6 1/2 years.
We are very appreciative of your friendships and your business. We are sorry to say that we must close our doors at this time.
THANK YOU again and please continue to support the small family owned businesses in your community. We cannot survive without you.
UPDATED, 5:30 p.m. Saturday: We went by Café 33 after posting this, and noticed the same message posted in the windows and on the front door (and added the photo at the top and to the right).
All of the furniture had been cleared out of the lobby and dining area.
A further message from the restaurant about its closure was added to a comment thread earlier this afternoon:
Unfortunately, the foot traffic in the area has subsided so much that we were forced to shut the doors as well as not having support from our landlord on such issues as flooding coming in the front door, etc. We hope to maybe relocate but it wouldn’t be for a while. We will keep everyone posted…but for now Thank you from all of us.
Returning to original post:
Café 33 was started by Shane Clements, a Sprayberry High School graduate, in honor of his mother, and opened for breakfast and lunch at 2595 Sandy Plains Road, right across the street from his old school.
The restaurant moved to the Sprayberry Collection Shopping Center across the intersection at 2595 East Piedmont Road and added a dinner menu and a catering service.
Café 33 is the second Northeast Cobb restaurant in recent weeks to close. On Christmas Eve, The Rib Ranch closed after nearly 35 years on Canton Road.
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!
If you’re using Interstate 75 at all this weekend and into next week, there are some closures to note, via the Cobb Department of Transportation, that may affect your commute in and out of the East Cobb area.
The I-75 southbound exit ramp to Cobb Parkway will be closed from 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. Saturday. Southbound motorists will merge onto I-285 westbound, then use Exit 18 to reach Paces Ferry Road. That will be followed by a left on Paces Ferry and another left to the entrance ramp for I-285 eastbound. After that, motorists will use Exit 19 for Cobb Parkway to resume their travel.
The I-75 southbound exit ramp to the South Marietta Parkway will be closed from Sunday through Thursday. The closures start at 11 p.m. and continue to 5 a.m. each day. Motorists coming off I-75 southbound to the South Marietta Parkway will stay on I-75 and use Delk Road (Exit 261). The detour includes taking a right on Cobb Parkway.
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!
Discarded Christmas trees at the Home Depot at Providence Square, 4101 Roswell Road, which will be accepting trees from 9-4 Saturday. (ECN photo)
Saturday is the last day to drop off Christmas Trees in Keep Cobb Beautiful’s “Bring One for the Chipper” recycling program, and several East Cobb locations are participating.
The dropoff hours are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Fullers Park (3499 Robinson Road) and Noonday Creek Park (489 Hawkins Store Road) as well as Home Depot stores at Providence Square Shopping Center (4101 Roswell Road) and Highland Plaza (3605 Sandy Plains Road).
In exchange for your tree (any with decorations will not be accepted), you’ll get free mulch.
There’s a lot going on Saturday elsewhere throughout East Cobb, as we rounded up earlier this week, including a podcasting course from 2-5 and the start of a “Murderino” movie series from 11-1 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road). There’s also a teen light painting workshop from 2-4 at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).
There’s some additional information to note here about the ribbon-cutting for the new gymnasium at Pope High School (3001 Hembree Road) Saturday afternoon, before the Greyhounds’ varsity basketball teams play Chattahoochee.
Spectators who arrive before 3:15 will be admitted for free; the ribbon-cutting ceremony and other festivities begin at 3:30 p.m. It’s Alumni Night for Pope basketball, with the girls playing at 4:30 and the boys tipping off at 6.
A major high school swimming meet, the Indian Invite, takes place at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mountain View Aquatic Center (2650 Gordy Parkway). The host is McEachern, but the other participants include swim teams from Lassiter.
At the Cobb Central Aquatic Center (520 Fairground St., Marietta), Walton is the host for a varsity swimming meet that includes Wheeler.
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 Nigerian immigrant whom Marietta Police say threatened to shoot up a Northeast Cobb church and kill people inside has been charged with making terroristic threats.
Police said Ken Ogbemudia, a member of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Heaven’s Gate on Pickens Industrial Drive, located off Allgood Road, has been admitted to WellStar Kennestone Hospital for psychiatric evaluation.
Once he is released, police said he will be held without bond. Marietta Police issued a statement Friday morning saying that Temitosan Abimbola, the pastor of the church, told authorities about Ogbemudia’s threats.
Police said Ogbemudia allegedly texted a threatening message to church members. According to police, the pastor also spoke with a woman identified as Karen James, whom he said told him that she had purchased two AK-47 rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition.
Ogbemudia was taken into custody on Thursday, according to police, who said they have located no weapons and added that James is cooperating with the investigation.
Officials from the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement are checking into Ogbemudia’s immigration status.
Police said he arrived in the United States from Nigeria in 2011 and has told authorities he is in the country illegally.
The church is part of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, a Pentecostal denomination based in Lagos, Nigeria, and that has branches in nearly 200 nations.
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!
For the second time this week, the National Weather Service office in Atlanta has issued a wind chill advisory that includes Cobb County.
The advisory period is from 7 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday for northwestern Georgia. Low temperatures are projected to dip into the teens, with wind chills possibly resulting in temperatures between five above and seven below zero.
Two East Cobb churches are also offering shelter from the cold tonight for the homeless, and need volunteers. Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church (4385 Lower Roswell Road) and Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (955 Johnson Ferry Road) announced on the Opening Our Doors website that they need volunteers at both locations.
The cold snap that’s lingered into the new year won’t be thawing out anytime soon. Friday’s high is forecast to be only in the mid 30s, with Friday lows once again in the teens. Saturday and Sunday highs will be the same, and there’s a chance of freezing rain on Sunday night.
Temperatures aren’t expected to get into the 40s until Monday, and next week could bring temperatures in the low 50s.
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!
State Rep. John Carson, chairman of the House Study Committee on Distracted Driving, said Wednesday he is holding a press conference a week from now, on Jan. 10, to detail Georgia distracted driving legislation for the upcoming session of the legislature.
Carson, a Republican from Northeast Cobb, will also discuss the committee’s final report, which was issued in December and includes legislative recommendations (full report is here).
On Tuesday, the City of Smyrna became the first municipality in the state to pass a hands-free driving ordinance (report here via the Cobb County Courier), but only after Mayor Max Bacon voted to break a tie on the city council.
A poll cited by Carson’s study committee found that two-thirds of Georgians favor a hands-free driving law in Georgia (66.4 percent), with nearly 22 percent undecided.
“I’m encouraged to see that the majority of Georgia voters are supportive of a hands-free driving law in our state,” Carson said in a statement in December. “Last year alone, over 1,500 people died in automobile accidents on Georgia roads, and according to a recent poll, over 82 percent of Georgia voters believe that texting while driving is a major contributing factor to the increased number of auto accidents. Distracted diving is an extremely serious public safety concern, and it is absolutely essential that this issue is addressed in the 2018 General Assembly session to prevent further distracted driving-related car crashes and fatalities.”
The poll was conducted by in October by Landmark Communications, Inc. of Alpharetta, and surveyed 700 randomly selected active Georgia voters.
The study committee also is recommending an increase in the current $150 fine for distract driving on a staggering scale, up to $1,000 for serious, repeat offenders, and to boost the driver’s license penalty by 2 to 4 points on a staggering scale, from the current 1-point penalty for a distracted driving offense.
The committee recommended against a total ban on use of mobile devices in vehicles, saying it’s not realistic. No other state has such a law.
Carson’s study committee found that 13 of the 15 states with hands-free laws have seen an average decrease of 17.5 percent in traffic fatalities two years after passing and enforcing those laws.
The panel also noted that Georgia’s anti-texting law, which went into effect in 2010, has been difficult to enforce because law enforcement officers are unable to determine whether motorists are using their phones to text or for other purposes.
The 2018 legislative session begins on Monday. Carson’s press conference is Wednesday, Jan. 10, at 2 p.m on the second floor of the rotunda of the Georgia State Capitol, 206 Washington St. SW, Atlanta.
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 Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road) has reopened after the Christmas and New Year’s holiday break, and today opened registration for winter art classes that begin later this month.
Classes are divided in to youth (ages 5-18) and adult divisions, with classes beginning as early as Jan. 16.
Classes include pottery, sculpture, raku, drawing, illustration, digital photography, metals and jewelry, mosaics, knitting, painting, felting, drama and more.
There’s a new registration system that’s also kicked into effect starting today, called CivicRec (more info about that here). Participants who’ve been in the previous system for the last two years have had their accounts automatically transferred.
The Cobb PARKS site has general information about programs, but for more information about The Art Place registration, and to sign up online, click 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!
When former Sprayberry football star Rodrigo Blankenship kicked a 55-yard field goal for the Georgia Bulldogs near the end of the first half on New Year’s Day against Oklahoma, it did more than set a Rose Bowl record.
Those points helped the Bulldogs recover from a 17-point deficit as they defeated the Sooners 54-48 in double overtime in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.
It was a game, as one sportswriter covering the came called it, “flat-out bonkers,” and Blankenship played a vital role.
In the national championship game next Monday against Alabama, Blankenship and UGA will be playing very close to home, at the new Mercedes Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta.
Blankenship, who also starred for the Yellow Jackets in soccer during his days at Sprayberry, was an all-county and all-state placekicker and punter under former coach Billy Shackelford.
But he initially was a walk-on at Georgia, and finally was awarded a full athletic scholarship earlier this season, after he kicked the decisive field goal for the Bulldogs in a 20-19 win over Notre Dame.
A sophomore, Blankenship’s previous longest field goal was from 49 yards out this season against Mississippi State. His longest field goal in high school was a 56-yarder.
He’s also become something of a cult figure on social media, notable for the thick, nerdy-looking glasses he wears under his helmet while playing.
The Twitter account for Men in Blazers, a national soccer TV program hosted by two sardonic British expatriates, posted several times during the game and included photos of Blankenship playing soccer for Sprayberry (also while wearing glasses):
On his personal website, Blankenship has included soccer information while he was at Sprayberry. He graduated in 2015 and enrolled at UGA, redshirting that year, and was an all-freshman SEC team selection last year.
This season, he has made 16 of 19 field goal attempts, including the Rose Bowl, and was voted one of the most improved UGA players on special teams.
After the Rose Bowl, Blankenship talked about his record-setting kick and Georgia’s memorable win:
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 Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center is holding a Podcasting basics course Saturday from 2-5, and a podcast-ready microphone will be raffled off. (ECN file photo)
It’s the first business day of 2018, and while Cobb schools don’t get back into session until Thursday, there’s plenty to do in East Cobb during the first full week of the new year.
Many of those activities will be at public libraries, including the new Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road), which is having an orientation session from 7-8 tonight that includes a chance to sign up for classes, as well as film screenings and other special events later in the week.
Also on Thursday, at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road), there will be a screening of “The Return of the Pink Panther” from 1-3, that’s part of the Movie Matinee Club. The East Cobb branch also will be having a senior Tai Chi Wellness Class from 11:30-12:30 that requires registration.
On Saturday is the first of the “Murderino” murder-mystery film screenings at Sewell Mill. “The Night of the Hunter” will be shown from 11-1.
Also on Saturday, Sewell Mill will be holding an Introduction to Podcastingsession from 2-5, with speakers from the Podcast Atlanta collaborative. The event also includes a podcast-ready microphone that will be raffled off.
A new regular event begins Thursday at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road), and it’s for knitting, crocheting and related crafting devotees. “I’d Rather Be Stitching” is a weekly drop-in session from 1-3.
Also at Mountain View on Saturday is an art event for middle and high school students. “#TeenSpace Light Painting” goes from 2-4 and you’ll need to register for this one-time workshop.
Saturday is the day to get your Christmas tree recycled through Keep Cobb Beautiful’s “Bring One for the Chipper” event. Drop off your trees at Fullers Park or Noonday Creek Park or two Home Depot locations between 9-4 and get free mulch in exchange.
Also on Saturday, Pope High School (3001 Hembree Road) will christen its new gymnasium with a community ribbon-cuttting ceremony at 3:15 p.m., followed by varsity basketball games starting at 4 p.m. between the Greyhounds girls and Chattahoochee High School, and the boys tipping off at 6 p.m.
Check out our full events calendar for this week and beyond. Send your calendar listings to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll post them 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!
The Cobb County Board of Education met this morning in a special called organizational meeting to choose officers for 2018.
Cobb school board member David Chastain of NE Cobb
The new chairman is Brad Wheeler of Post 7 (Harrison, Hillgrove, McEachern). He is a former teacher, coach and administrator in Cobb schools, and has been on the school board since 2013.
Last year’s chairman, David Chastain of Post 4 in Northeast Cobb (Kell and Sprayberry), remains an officer and will serve as vice chairman for this year.
Chastain, a board member since 2015, attended Brumby Elementary School and East Cobb Middle School and is a graduate of Wheeler High School.
The seven-member Cobb school board annually elects officers for calendar year period. Wheeler and Chastain are among the six Republicans on the board, and they were elected with unanimous votes.
The Cobb school board also set its 2018 meeting schedule Tuesday, and has made some changes. Previously the board held work sessions on the second Wednesday and regular meetings on the third Thursday.
In 2018 the board be holding its monthly work session and regular meeting on the same day, either the second or third Thursday (see schedule below). From January through October, the work sessions start at 1 p.m., with regular meetings starting at 7 p.m. Both meetings will include public comment periods. Executive sessions will be held at 5:30 p.m.
In November and December, the work sessions begin at 9 a.m., followed by an executive session and regular meeting.
The meeting dates are as follows:
Jan. 18;
Feb. 15,
March 15;
April 19;
May 17;
June 21;
July 26;
Aug. 16;
Sept. 13;
Oct. 18;
Nov. 15;
Dec. 13.
All public meetings are held in the board meeting room of the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover St., Marietta.
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!
