It was sunny and just around 60 degrees Tuesday afternoon at East Cobb Park when we stopped by for a little break, but with bristling winds that are going to make the next couple of nights seem colder than what’s in the forecast.
The National Weather Service in Atlanta has issued a freeze warning for Cobb County and much of North Georgia from midnight to 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Temperatures will be dipping to just around the freezing mark tonight and overnight, with winds gusting as much as 20 mph in some places.
A freeze warning means plants and pets should be brought in from the cold, and to prevent bursting of outdoor water pipes, they should be wrapped or allowed to drip slowly. In-ground sprinkler systems also should be wrapped or brought inside.
The winds will be calming down after that and dry, sunny weather will resume for the rest of the week.
Wednesday and Thursday will be much like Tuesday, sunny and in the high 50s to near 60 during the day, and into the 30s at night.
Weekend weather will be warmer, with sunny skies and high temperatures Friday-Saturday-Sunday in the high 60s and near 70, and evening temperatures falling into the 40s and low 50s.
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!
Kirsten Glaser, newly relocated to East Cobb, jumped into help feed families impacted by COVID soon after moving here in the summer, and now heads the “Lasagna Love” program in Georgia.
It’s a nationwide effort of volunteers who prepare home-cooked meals not just for those medically and financially rocked by the pandemic, but also for health care workers, first responders and teachers. She explains how she got cooking for this cause and how you can get involved or order a meal if you need one:
“My husband and I moved to East Cobb in June from New York. We’re both young, active business professionals that thrive on social interaction. Moving to a new state and starting a new job during a pandemic halted our ability to quickly make new friends and even meet our new colleagues.
“It didn’t seem to matter how many Netflix shows we watched, banana breads I baked, or long walks we’d take with our dog, I still felt bored and most importantly, not connected to our new community.
“On September 28, I saw a story on The Today Show which struck a chord with me immediately. Lasagna Love is a movement started by Rhiannon Menn in May. She, too, was searching for some way to help those around her. Her lone effort of making lasagnas for her neighbors in need has now become a full blown movement in 47 states with 3,000 volunteers and over 6,000 families served as of today.
“I knew that this was what not only I needed but a way I could immerse myself into my new community, so I signed up to become a Lasagna Mama. I quickly received a response that I was the first in my area and was asked if I wanted to be the Regional Leader. Not knowing what this meant, I accepted the task.
“Each week, we receive requests from families who have been negatively impacted by COVID-19; this might be financial, medical or emotional. We are now reaching out to healthcare professionals, first responders and teachers who are under greater stress than ever because of the pandemic.
“I match our Lasagna Mamas and Papas (volunteers) to these families to receive a home-cooked meal. Some Mamas and Papas make just lasagna and some provide other entrees and full meals. Each of us does what we can without judgment.
“I now co-lead Lasagna Love for the entire state of Georgia and we currently have over 100 active volunteers! Each week I spend many hours matching mamas and papas to families as well as cooking lasagnas and delivering in addition to my full-time job. And I’ve never felt more fulfilled. This has given me an opportunity to connect with my neighbors, make new friendships with the Lasagna Mamas, as well as help those in our community in need.
“With the upcoming holiday season, Lasagna Love hopes to ease some stress and bring some joy to the families that are served as well as to the army of volunteers.
“For more info visit: lasagnalove.org. You can sign up to become a Lasagna Mama or Papa or request/nominate a meal.”
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A rendering of a commercial building included in the “visioning” of the proposed Nexus Gardens project.
A major mixed-use development proposed for the South Marietta Parkway (Loop) and Powers Ferry Road area is scheduled to get its first public hearing in December.
What’s being called “Nexus Gardens” would contain nearly 500 units of apartments, senior-living units and townhomes, as well as restaurant, retail and event space and greenspace amenities on 17.14 acres.
Nexus Marietta, the applicant, has assembled 20 parcels of land, including two big undeveloped tracts fronting Interstate 75 and the Loop and single-family homes in an adjoining neighborhood.
All but one of the parcels is located within the City of Marietta. The rezoning request goes before the Marietta Planning Commission on Dec. 1.
The landowners are RGM Properties Partnership LLLP, McMullan Partners LLC and Rube McMullan. He’s an East Cobb resident, and Nexus Marietta LLC filed as a corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office in July.
Nexus Marietta has hired prominent Cobb zoning attorney Kevin Moore to request converting the land use from regional retail commercial (RRC), community retail commercial (CRC) and office-industrial (OI) zoning categories to mixed-used development (MXD).
The assemblage includes 17 homes on Meadowbrook Drive and one on Virginia Place that are within the city limits. A home at 492 Meadowbrook Drive is in unincorporated Cobb County.
Nexus Marietta’s application also includes an annexation request for that tract, which is located on Meadowbrook Drive at Powers Ferry Road.
The land doesn’t include a Chevron station and convenience store at the intersection.
Nexus Gardens would include a courtyard and townhomes behind it at the top of a project that slides below the Loop and along the western side of Meadowbrook Drive.
That’s a neighborhood of single-family homes built in the late 1950s that is partly in the city, but mostly in the county.
According to a site plan filed with the City of Marietta Planning & Zoning Office, Nexus Gardens would include two five-story apartment buildings totalling 280 units served by a three-story parking deck, a five-story senior-living building with 160 units and 39 townhomes.
A commercial building at the center of the project would have a restaurant with outdoor dining. An “alternate” three-story building would contain more restaurant and retail space, event space and a coffee shop. Two smaller retail buildings would line Powers Ferry at Meadowbrook Drive, the lone access point for the development.
The proposal also calls for a variety of amenities in and around the residential buildings as well as a community walking trail, courtyard areas, “gardenesque” landscaping, a dog park and a reflecting pond with water jets.
The property directly fronting I-75 is in a floodplain, and the proposal calls for separating it from the smaller apartment building with a wild flower meadow.
A total of 100 retail parking spaces are planned, 156 spaces are proposed for the townhomes and 542 spaces for the apartments and senior-living units.
The latter is far less than a minimum of 632 spaces required under the requested zoning categories.
The townhomes would be for sale only, and no more than five percent of the units could be renter-occupied.
They would be at least 1,800 square feet and would have two-car garages and driveway space for two additional cars.
The Nexus Marietta application includes “visioning” renderings of what the project may look like, and it’s similar to other mixed-use proposals in Cobb and metro Atlanta.
The former “Restaurant Row” area along Powers Ferry Road at Windy Hill Road that’s currently under construction includes apartments and senior-living units and is slated to welcome back the Rose and Crown Tavern that was the sole existing business on that property.
An Atlanta-area apartment builder, Atlantic Residential, is proposing to convert the blighted Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center in East Cobb into a mixed-use development, also with apartments, senior-living units and townhomes, a major grocery store and other retail space.
That proposal, which is tentatively slated to be heard in December, has been delayed for several months and has drawn community opposition, mostly because of the apartments.
The area around Sandy Plains and Piedmont roads is dominated by single-family subdivisions.
Nexus Gardens would be the first development of its kind in an area of East Marietta that includes older single-family housing and scattered commercial uses.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
We got this message from Steve Kleinrichert, father of Tyler Kleinrichert, who was a freshman at Walton High School when he took his own life in August 2017.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Georgia chapter is conducting a virtual walk fundraiser he says is $6,000 away from being the tops in the country, and is asking for support for the work of “Team Tyler.”
A week ago, we gathered at one of Tyler’s favorite spots—East Cobb Park—and had our own small walk. We were joined by several friends including both Luke and Hope comfort dogs and their ministry team who also brought us sandwiches.
Tyler’s friends wanted to walk—so we did. And, along the way our participants placed painted stones with messages of love and hope to share with those we don’t know. Awareness is a big deal and many stones were found, some documented on Facebook accounts of people in our community unaware of why they were placed there.
Our team was continuing in the process of helping others, while honoring Tyler’s story. We have been a top 15 fundraising team since starting, but the awareness and help goes well beyond how those funds help the cause to support the efforts to deter and stop suicide. There have been many families counseled and directed to resources as a direct result of Tyler’s Tribe. We know of at least two lives saved—from our team alone, many other potential changes that could represent even more lives.
Our Tyler’s Tribe Team has brought suicide prevention into the open with local and national politicians, schools, Boy Scouts Atlanta, and Veterans groups. We have helped to set up training sessions through AFSP on how to spot and work with someone who may be suffering—getting them to the right resources. The task is long , but we have made inroads and the work continues. Funds have helped to establish a 988 emergency number that will be properly staffed, helped to fund education and prevention programs, and have helped to spotlight after care resources for survivors and friends and family of those lost.
I don’t think Team Tyler will raise $6000 on its own—but we can reach deeper and make a small contribution that leads to long reaching solutions. AFSP is the largest organization in the country working on these issues and the charitable organization contributes a large percentage to the cause with less going toward administration—thanks in large part to strong volunteerism.
Please consider any sized donation to our team – $1, $5, $20, $50, $100, $500 ALL help!
All of the donations go to help AFSP’s work in Georgia.
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 food scores from Nov. 9-13 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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 home on Waterfront Drive that’s on property being assembled for a church and townhomes. (ECN photos)
Not long after our Monday post about a major rezoning request at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads, we heard from Fred Hanna, the prominent debt-collection lawyer and East Cobb resident who with his wife owns much of the land that’s being proposed for a church and townhomes.
What’s been put on the Cobb zoning calendar in December would be a new campus of the Alpharetta-based North Point Ministries plus 125 townhomes on 33 acres.
Hanna’s private property company and a non-profit ministry run by his wife have owned most of that property for nearly two decades.
Hanna Land Company owns 15 parcels and the True Vine Experience Foundation—which works to help those at risk of homelessness—owns 14 parcels. Another was owned by Sara Sweeney, a chiropractor whose office is on Shallowford Road.
Hanna told us he hoped the county would approve the church “and let it be tall and shine a light in the face of Tokyo Valentino [the controversial new adult retail store further down Johnson Ferry, whose business license was revoked last month by the county].
“Let’s send a message of what East Cobb is about.”
He said he bought his first property there, a house on Shallowford Road, in 2003 with the intention of knocking it down for redevelopment.
Lynn Hanna, his wife, urged him to let some needy people move in instead, and a family of four soon began living there rent-free.
Hanna bought 24 more homes in the same neighborhood, and many of those dwellings have been occupied by people trying to fend off homelessness.
True Vine’s work includes helping those people develop life and financial planning skills and job training in exchange for the free rent, which she estimates has added up to more than $3 million over the years.
When we called the Hannas to find out more, she explained to us that “we’ve always had in mind that we would sell.”
In 2016, CalAtlantic, a residential developer, applied for rezoning for single-family and some multi-family homes. But community opposition developed and in early 2017 the application was withdrawn.
Cobb commissioner Bob Ott suggested at the time that any redevelopment should wait until the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan process that was approved in August.
A current land use map of the proposed North Point church and townhomes, outlined by the Cobb Zoning Office.
In those intervening four years, Lynn Hanna said there have been some other overtures from potential buyers.
A few months ago, their agent contacted North Point, which initially wasn’t interested, and that she said had been holding makeshift gatherings in East Cobb at Eastside Baptist Church.
But in recent months, discussions began with North Point in earnest, and now the church is the applicant for the proposal (which you can read here).
While North Point campuses in Alpharetta and Buckhead have capacities of 3,000, she said the East Cobb campus “won’t be a megachurch.”
The plans call for up to 1,500 adults and 400 kids “on the best Sunday.”
“The reason I think it’s so good for the community is that it’s only going to be two hours on Sunday,” she said.
North Point doesn’t have a day care or pre-school, so there won’t be traffic during the week stemming from the church. The proposal also includes a small amount of retail and restaurant space.
But the 125 townhomes being proposed would need an RM-8 zoning that category that isn’t in the vicinity. That’s prompted traffic concerns—as well as a proposed parking deck next to the church—from some readers we’ve heard from.
Lynn Hanna said she understands that, and admits that “there are always people who object.” But she said they’re not going to make nearly the money selling to a church that they would have for an all-commercial assemblage.
North Point’s rezoning request, which was submitted by noted Cobb zoning attorney Kevin Moore, states that single-family residential use currently zoned “is economically unfeasible.”
According to Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office records, the properties owned by Hanna Land and True Vine range in appraised value from $35,000 (empty lots) to $647,000 for a lot at 3085 Johnson Ferry Road.
Most of the parcels with homes on them have appraised values in the low-to-mid 200s.
Those same records indicate that on Oct. 22, Sweeney sold her property at 4260 Shallowford Road to North Point Ministries for $650,000 (it has an appraised value of $491,530).
Lynn Hanna said she began notifying those living in the houses they own several months ago about the rezoning, and are working with them to find new housing
“We’re feeling good about this,” she said. “Knowing that it’s a church and that we’ve been helping near-homeless people is our reward.”
Said Fred Hanna:
“I think this matter has been a God thing. God had a plan some 17 years ago but first, he needed some 500 people to pass thru the houses, and be ministered to. But now is the time for the church.”
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!
Pure Farmland recognized The Center for Children and Young Adults (CCYA) in Marietta and its positive impact in the community through a recent check donation of $1,000. The endowment is part of the 2020 Pure Growth Project, an initiative launched by Pure Farmland earlier this year to ensure community gardens and farms continue to thrive, and to help increase the availability of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables nationwide. CCYA was selected as a 2020 grant recipient to support its commitment to providing nourishment and a safe place for homeless youth to live, thrive, and heal, which is needed now more than ever during this critical moment in time.
After receiving 167 applications from community gardens and farms across 31 states, 50 organizations were carefully selected to receive grants, totaling $100,000 in financial support, to nurture these unique neighborhood spaces.
On its nearly 5-acre campus, CCYA houses a flourishing farm-to-table garden that is “blooming with possibilities.” The garden is the non-profit’s source of over 2,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables for hundreds of youth residents, low-income staff and their families, churches, construction workers, and neighborhood and civic groups. Youth housed on-site can apprentice in the garden and use the fruits and vegetables in cooking classes or to enjoy in meals. In addition, CCYA hosts a farmer’s market stand to bring more fresh produce to its community, which is currently considered a food desert.
Pure Farmland is celebrating the organization’s exemplary stewardship and the impact its hard work has on the neighborhood. The award of $1,000 will be used to complete the campus garden plans for the year – including the purchase of enhanced soil bags to fill cinder blocks that line garden rows and inhibit weeds, and for seeds and plants to companion every row. During these uncertain times, CCYA is expanding its production to enhance access to healthy, nutrient dense food, and allowing the specialization of food production for kids.
“Big thanks to the Pure Growth Project grant program for allowing CCYA, in close partnership with the Cobb Master Gardeners, to complete optimal growth plans for the year,” said Maureen Lok, legacy board member and Cobb Master Gardener for CCYA. “A therapeutic opportunity is presented through this milieu for youth as it provides a foundation for vocational and life skills training through garden apprenticeships. Equally an oasis of tranquility and beauty, its effect is palpable, as youth, staff, neighbors, and visitors alike feel compelled to comment on its aesthetic appeal.”
“At Pure Farmland, we’re dedicated to increasing access to fresh, locally grown produce nationwide. Which is why we’re thrilled to join forces with the hard-working individuals at CCYA as part of the Pure Growth Project, to help further their mission and strengthen the local Marietta community,” said Erin Thacker, MA, RDN, brand manager for Pure Farmland. “It is important now more than ever to support local neighborhoods and encourage the next generation to grow sustainably sourced produce.”
For more information, please visit pure-farmland.com/impact/. Pure Farmland is a brand of Smithfield Foods.
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 a hand recount of Cobb votes in the presidential race began on Friday, the county’s elections board certified all the other the results from last week’s general election.
By a 5-0 vote, the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration—a five-member appointed body—voted to certify the results of a variety of county, state and federal races as well as local and statewide ballot issues.
In recapping the elections process, Cobb Elections Director Janine Eveler said that “election day went very smoothly” and chalked up much of that to early and absentee voting “that took a lot of the pressure” off of staff and poll workers at 145 precincts.
She said a total of 396,549 ballots were counted in Cobb County—that’s 73.76 percent of the 537,611 registered eligible voters: 174,979 cast ballots in person, and another 148,498 votes were counted via mail/absentee.
The elections board vote came a few hours after Eveler and her staff began the laborious hand recount process in the presidential race. That was ordered on Wednesday by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Democratic former vice president Joe Biden leads in Georgia by 14,116 points and has 49.52 percent of the vote, while Republican president Donald Trump has 49.24 percent of the vote with nearly 5 million votes cast.
The Trump campaign has charged voter fraud in a number of states where the voting has been close. In Georgia, Republican U.S. senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler have asked for Raffensperger to resign. He said he won’t be doing that, and urged his fellow GOP office-holders to focus on their Jan. 5 runoff campaigns.
On Friday afternoon, several news outlets projected Biden the winner in Georgia. He would be the first Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992 to do so. Trump also has been projected to be the winner in North Carolina.
Pennsylvania and Arizona also have been projected for Biden, who by most estimates currently has 290 electoral votes, 20 more than needed.
But only in Georgia is a hand recount taking place. Cobb Elections has brought on 80 people for now to count the presidential vote from those 396,549 ballots.
They’ll have until Wednesday at 11:59 p.m.—the deadline Raffensperger set for all 159 counties to finish—and Eveler said in Cobb the counters will include full-time elections office staffers, poll workers, absentee ballot counters and others.
They got training and final instructions before the recounting began at 9 a.m. The counters are working in 40 teams of two people per table who were randomly assigned and didn’t know one another beforehand.
The state Democratic and Republican parties have assigned designated monitors, and the public is invited to watch as well in an observation area that Eveler said “is quite large, actually.”
The counting is going on from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Jim Miller Park (2245 Callaway Road, Marietta). Late Friday afternoon, the county said 115,000 ballots have been examined thus far, and the work will continue Saturday.
During the elections board meeting, Cobb Democratic Party chairwoman Jackie Bettadapur commended Cobb Elections for its election-day performance, but blasted the hand recount, calling Republicans “sore losers” who were demanding “expensive political theater.”
The county is expected to pick up the tab for the hand recount, and Eveler said it’s possible more shifts will be added to meet the Wednesday deadline. Georgia elections must be certified by next Friday, Nov. 20.
“It will take however many people it takes, and it will cost whatever it’s going to cost, and that’s what we have to do,” she said in the above video produced by the Cobb County Communications Office.
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The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Cobb County School District rose sharply this week, with 105 new cases added to the totals as the first data has come in since the return of high school students to campuses.
Those new cases have been reported at 53 of the district’s 112 schools, including most of the high schools.
According to the district’s weekly Friday update, there have now been 615 confirmed COVID cases among students teachers and staff since July 1.
At all of the schools with new cases, 10 or fewer cases have been reported, as has been the case since the district began releasing figures in October. This week’s total is the biggest one-week increase.
Friday marked the end of the second week of campus return for high school students, who were the last component of the district’s phased reopening that began in October.
Of the 17 high school campuses in the district, only four did not have any confirmed COVID cases—Sprayberry, Osborne, Pebblebrook and the Cobb Horizon School.
When elementary students returned in the first phase in early October, there had been 287 COVID cases reported.
Since then, there have been 328 reported cases, which don’t break down specific numbers of students and staff.
The new figures come as Cobb County and Georgia are reporting new spikes in confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of Wednesday, there have been 23,547 COVID cases reported in Cobb County, as various reporting metrics have been on the rise. A total of 480 people in Cobb have died from the virus, the second-highest number in Georgia behind Fulton County.
On Nov. 2, the seven-day moving average of cases in Cobb according to date of onset had risen to 94.3, the highest figure since early September.
Even more critically, the 14-day average of cases per 100,000 people has nearly doubled over that time.
That’s down from 222 cases per 100,000 on Wednesday. Public health officials consider 100 cases per 100,000 to be what they call “high community spread.”
It’s a key metric used by Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale in his decision to start the school year online. By the late summer, the 14-day average had grown to nearly 400.
By the time that figure had fallen to a little more than 200, the decision was made to allow face-to-face learning.
In September, Cobb’s 14-day average dipped below 100 for just a couple of days, and has been gradually climbing ever since.
Georgia DPH also reports that there have been 1,487 new cases in Cobb County over the last two weeks.
Of the Cobb schools with new COVID cases, 17 are in East Cobb, including five of the six high schools:
Middle Schools: Daniell; Dodgen; East Cobb; McCleskey; Simpson
High Schools: Kell; Lassiter; Pope; Walton; Wheeler.
As the district’s new update was announced, we got a message from a Dickerson Middle School parent noting that no cases had been reported there in this week’s update. But she got a “low-risk” note that went out to the school community indicating that someone had reported positive.
From the e-mail that went out to Dickerson parents:
“All health and safety measures have been in place and we will continue to isolate individuals with symptoms or a diagnosis of COVID-19, identify close contacts, and clean and disinfect the school building.”
The letter noted that the school underwent two days of deep cleaning this week—schools were closed Tuesday for election day and Wednesday is a non-instructional day—and stressed there’s not much more information that can be provided:
“I want to reiterate, this LOW RISKletter is being provided in an abundance of caution so you may assess and monitor your child’s symptoms and act accordingly. Please continue to monitor your child’s health daily for fever and symptoms of respiratory illness.
“In this particular situation, if your child had been identified as a close contact, you would have already been notified by the school, receiving additional advisement, including quarantine dates.
“I know not having additional information may be frustrating and makes us all uneasy, however I want to safeguard our email boxes and front office from being bombarded with questions we are unable to answer. Again, the school is not allowed to provide any additional information regarding our student/teacher/staff member who tested positive for COVID-19.”
The parent has sent a message to the district, adding this comment: “I don’t feel confident in the data you are publishing if you are not including confirmed cases in your counts. I would like to know why this case (and possibly others) is not being counted.”
A spokeswoman for the Cobb school district said there has not been a confirmed case at Dickerson among students or staff so it was not included in the COVID statistical update.
She said she could not explain further who that person was, but said that when such an occasion occurs, Cobb and Douglas Public Health asks the district to send the “low-risk” message.
“We encourage all students, staff, and parents to follow the guidance and detail that is available which will be found in the letters they receive from Cobb & Douglas Public Health,” the Cobb school district spokeswoman said.
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The Cobb Board of Elections and Registration will certify elections results Friday as the department starts counting ballots in the presidential race by hand.
The five-member appointed board will meet to certify all but the presidential results at 12 p.m. in a public meeting that will be shown on Cobb County Government’s YouTube channel.
All 159 Georgia counties have been ordered by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to conduct a manual recount in the presidential race.
Democratic former vice president Joe Biden leads in Georgia by 14,116 points and has 49.52 percent of the vote, while Republican president Donald Trump has 49.24 percent of the vote with nearly 5 million votes cast.
That margin falls within the state’s 0.5 percent margin of threshold for an automatic electronic recount, but Raffensperger took the unusual step of ordering the hand recount.
Raffensperger, a Republican, said Wednesday “this helps build confidence” in an elections process that has come under fire from those in his own party, including U.S. Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
Earlier this week they called for his resignation. But Raffensperger responded by saying that if there has been any illegal voting it “is unlikely” it would rise to the numbers to change the outcome in Georgia.
Raffensperger has set a deadline of next Wednesday to have the hand count completed. In Cobb, elections staffers will be working overtime to count 396,549 ballots. The cost and source of funding for the recount is unclear for now, although Raffensperger said Wednesday it’s possible the state could reimburse county elections offices.
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We noted earlier this month that parents of students in the Cobb County School District will be able to choose face-to-face or remote learning options from Nov. 15-29.
As that portal opens on Sunday, the district has provided some further information about the process, which operates the same as it did for the fall semester.
The spring semester runs from Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 through Wednesday, May 26, 2021, and the district says you can change your selection anytime during that Nov. 15-29 period at the Cobb Learning Everywhere portal.
After that, those decisions will be final, as they have been for the current semester. Per a district release, here are the selection steps:
1. Make sure the adult who first enrolled each student (the enrolling adult) completes the choice process. Attempting to complete the process as another adult will not work.
2. Use your preferred computing device to navigate to ParentVUE by clicking HERE or by opening the ParentVUE app on your mobile device.
3. Log in with your user name and password. If you have forgotten your password, click the Forgot Password link on the login page.
4. Once you are signed in to ParentVUE, direct your attention to the left-hand side menu and select the Back to School Choice menu item.
5. On the Back to School Choice page, find each of your registered students listed, along with the two learning options (FACE-TO-FACE or continue FULL REMOTE) for each.
6. Choose the option that best fits the needs of your student(s) and family.
As we continue to be committed to offering you choice, Cobb’s commitment to health and safety will continue as well. You can learn more about Cobb Schools’ enhanced health and safety protocols, which are keeping Cobb’s students as healthy and safe as possible, by clicking here.
We recognize that this school year has already been full of challenges. We know we cannot address every way COVID-19 has impacted your lives, but we can continue to give families safe and healthy face-to-face and remote classroom options for as long as public health conditions in Cobb County allow.
We sincerely thank you for your support and partnership as a member of the Cobb Schools Team and look forward to supporting your student(s) for the rest of the 2020-2021 school year.
Data released by the district before students returned to classes indicated that 52 percent of all students chose face-to-face learning, including 58 percent in elementary school, 54 percent in middle school and 42 percent in high school.
Two high schools in East Cobb reported the highest percentage of students who have gone back to classrooms: Pope (70.6 percent) and Lassiter (63.3 percent).
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!
Fresh off its successful run as a pop-up shop at The Avenue East Cobb and just in time for the holidays, Solstice opens its new location on Nov. 14 in a suite on the third floor of the Synovus Building at 1200 Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb. The popular shop has been reimagined as an inviting and intimate showroom featuring a carefully curated array of stones hand-selected from vendors across the world. For the novice or seasoned collector, Solstice provides a fresh twist on metaphysical with unique stone bracelets and pendants, along with sage, chimes, and eco-friendly gifts.
Beginning in 2021, the Solstice Studio will be hosting a full slate of very talented intuitives, including Marietta’s own India Leigh, who will be offering readings, events and classes on subjects relating to astrology, numerology, tarot, mediumship, stones, metaphysical healing and shamanism. Offerings are designed to welcome and intrigue those in the community who are ready to explore alternative ways of better knowing themselves and their world.
Solstice officially opens its new doors to the public on Saturday, Nov. 14 from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. for holiday shopping with 20 percent off the entire store. Intuitive coach and card reader India Leigh will be on hand for mini-readings from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Appointments are available to book at www.solstice.love. From Nov. 14 through the end of 2020, the Solstice Showroom & Studio will be open to the public on Saturdays from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Private shopping appointments are also welcome. Visit www.solstice.love for more information.
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!
In observation of Veterans Day, members of the Rocky Mount Elementary School choir came together—online—to offer a musical tribute to those serving in the U.S. armed forces.
The school is among those in the Cobb County School District that has had an in-person Veterans Day celebration in the past, so the students recorded this virtual rendition of “Veterans We Love You.”
According to a release from the Cobb County School District, the 35 students—from third through fifth grade—worked for weeks to get the song just right: “They may not have been able to meet in person for practices like in the past, but they wanted to keep the music alive.”
The district said the choir, under the direction of music teacher Andrew Geocaris, has been meeting on Wednesdays—which is a day for catch-up and independent learning this year.
He gave them individual feedback, and students submitted their solo performances through FlipGrid. Geocaris then compiled the final video with some light audio and video editing “to maintain the most authentic performance possible in the virtual medium.”
Here’s more from their teacher:
“I love the enthusiasm our students show when they have the chance to be a part of something new. Time and again, when a new club or opportunity arises, our students are eager to be a part of the next exciting moment at Rocky Mount. I often find that our students’ enthusiasm feeds my own, giving me both the energy and inspiration to come up with new ideas for the classroom and for chorus.”
He said he was worried that after having gone virtual in March, his students might have felt some screen fatigue, but said he was pleased more students signed up for the fall virtual choir than had taken part in the spring.
“Even if it means one more Zoom call, our students crave the feeling of connection and community that the fine arts provide.”
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday there will be a hand recount of around 5 million votes in the presidential race.
At a press conference on the steps of the state capitol in Atlanta, Raffensperger said he’s taking the rare step of ordering a hand recount, as well as an audit of paper ballots and recanvassing, as an “all-in-one process” to ensure an accurate and fair outcome.
“This will help build confidence,” said Raffensperger. “It will be a heavy lift, but we will work with the counties to get this done in time for state certification.”
He said Democratic former vice president Joe Biden has a lead of 14,111 votes over Republican President Donald Trump, whose campaign on Tuesday demanded a hand recount in Georgia.
Trump led by around 370,000 votes statewide at the end of election night. Biden has won 849,679 absentee votes that have been counted since then, compared to 451,240 for Trump.
The updated tallies can be found here; Biden has 49.52 percent of the vote and Trump has 49.24 percent, within the 0.5 percent range for a recount in Georgia. Biden got 56 percent of the vote in Cobb County, although most precincts in East Cobb favored Trump.
A hand recount—which is possible due to a 2019 change in state law requiring paper ballots for recounts—will take place in all 159 counties in Georgia. Raffensperger said 97 counties have certified results.
A hand recount is more expensive and time-consuming than an automatic recount conducted by a scanner, and it’s unclear how much that will cost, who will pay for it and how long it will take.
Georgia has to certify its presidential results by Nov. 20. After the hand count is complete, the losing candidate has two business days to request another recount that under state law must be done electronically.
Georgia has 16 electoral votes—the number of the state’s Congressional delegation of two U.S. Senators and 14 U.S. House members. The electoral college meetings will take place on Dec. 14.
Most of the major news outlets that have called the race for Biden have a current electoral college count of 290 for Biden to 217 for Trump, with Georgia and North Carolina still outstanding.
At least 270 electoral votes are needed to win the presidency.
“We are committed to counting every legal ballot,” Raffensperger said in a social media post after the press conference. “Georgia voters deserve accurate, secure results. We stand by our numbers.”
The Cobb Board of Elections and Registration is to scheduled to certify its election results Friday. When asked how Cobb Elections will be conducting that hand recount, and how that process may affect certification, Cobb County spokesman Ross Cavitt said he’s talked with Cobb Elections director Janine Eveler, and “they’re still trying to figure it out.”
UPDATE: Cobb County said late Wednesday afternoon that a “risk-limiting” audit of paper ballots will take begin Friday at 8 a.m. at Jim R. Miller Park Event Center. That’s an audit conducted to make sure if votes were tabulated correctly.
Raffensperger, a Republican former legislator, has come under fire for his handling of the presidential voting, but he’s said there has been no evidence of election fraud in Georgia.
Georgia’s Republican U.S. senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler—both of whom are in Jan. 5 runoffs—called for his resignation on Monday. But Raffensperger responded by saying that if there has been any illegal voting it “is unlikely” it would rise to the numbers to change the outcome in Georgia.
“My office will continue to investigate each and every instance of illegal voting. Every legal vote will count,” he said at Wednesday’s press conference. “We will continue to enforce the law.”
Georgia is one of a handful of states where presidential voting is still too close to declare a winner, or where votes are still being counted. Biden also leads in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada and Trump leads in North Carolina.
“This race has national significance,” Raffensperger said. “We get that.”
Biden made a victory speech on Saturday, but Trump is refusing to concede. He and his campaign have made allegations of voter fraud in some of those closely-contested states, including Georgia.
U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, a Republican who finished third behind Raphael Warnock and Loeffler in the U.S. Senate special election primary, said Raffensperger’s call for a hand recount is “a victory for transparency. A victory for election integrity. A victory for the American people.”
He’s leading the Trump recount effort in Georgia, and on social media he’s been frequently calling into doubt the election process here and in other states.
Some state Democrats, including 2018 gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams, said Trump is only delaying the inevitable. “He lost, and he knows it,”said Abrams, one of Georgia’s 16 Democratic electors.
On Tuesday, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, a Republican who was defeated in his re-election bid, said he finds it “extraordinary” that “we have people who question the integrity of the voting process—because they lost.”
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, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners, joined by the Cobb Chamber and the Cobb County Coalition of Business Associations proclaimed November 28 as “Small Business Saturday” in Cobb County, and urged all residents to support small businesses and merchants on this day and throughout the year.
“At the Cobb Chamber, the strength of our small business community is a top priority. And, this year, Cobb’s small business owners need our community’s support and patronage now more than ever, said Sharon Mason, President and CEO of the Cobb Chamber. “Small Business Saturday is a great way to unite our neighbors in investing in local merchants, shops and restaurants. Join us in supporting our local small businesses not just on this day, but all year long.”
Since its inception in 2010, Small Business Saturday, backed by American Express, has promoted the significance of supporting small, independently owned businesses across the country. Falling between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday is dedicated to supporting the diverse range of local businesses that help create jobs, boost the economy, and keep communities thriving across the country.
Per the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are currently 30.7 million small businesses in the country, representing 99.7 percent of all businesses with paid employees. From 2000-2018, small businesses were responsible for nearly 64.9 percent of net new jobs created. Sixty-two percent of U.S. small businesses reported the need for consumer spending to return to pre-COVID levels by the end of 2020 in order to remain in business.
Small Business Saturday is supported by advocacy groups, as well as public and private organizations across the country. In 2019, U.S. consumers reported spending a record high of an estimated $19.6 billion at independent retailers and restaurants on Small Business Saturday. Ninety-five percent of consumers who shopped on Small Business Saturday said that it encourages them to shop or eat at small, independently-owned businesses all year long, not just during the holiday season.
For more information about Small Business Saturday and how to participate, visit shopsmall.com or contact Pam Woo, of the Small Business Saturday Coalition, at pwoo@wipp.org.
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Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved a $690,809 contract for traffic improvements at the intersection of Old Canton Road and Holly Springs Road.
Funding for the project is provided in the 2016 Cobb Special Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). Glosson was the low bidder against six other companies, and the measure was approved by commissioners on their consent agenda.
A total of $1 million was budgeted for the project, which will include the construction of pedestrian refuge islands, a guardrail, signage and striping at a three-way intersection.
About $170,000 has been spent in initial costs, and another $27,000 will be spent to relocate water lines (to be paid with Cobb Water System funds).
Initially the project called for a roundabout, but that option was removed after feedback from the community and Cobb DOT staff after open house sessions.
What’s shown above is a concept map; to see a larger view click here.
The project is expected to take around six months once construction begins.
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A week after he lost his re-election bid to one of his colleagues, Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce pledged to assist her as she is set to take office in January.
He also expressed dismay over heated disputes involving the presidential election, both at the national and state levels.
At the end of Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners regular meeting, Boyce congratulated Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who defeated him with 53 percent of the vote.
He’s a Republican who like other countywide GOP office holders was swept out in a Democratic surge. Cupid, currently the only Democrat on the five-member board, will lead a 3-2 Democratic majority when she takes over.
Noting that more than 300,000 people voted in Cobb County, Boyce said that “I think that’s a great example of true democracy in action.
“I think it’s also important as part of this process that we have a transition in grace. That we acknowledge the voice of the people, we hear them and we move on.”
He said it’s important for Cobb citizens “that this message gets out loud and clear to our national and state leaders that this transition is part of the election process.
“I find it extraordinary that four years ago nobody complained about the results of the election, and four years later we have people who question the integrity of the voting process—because they lost.
“That doesn’t reflect well of leadership. That doesn’t happen in Cobb County. That’s not going to happen in Cobb County as long as I’m the chairman.”
Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are facing Jan. 5 runoffs against Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively, and as the close voting in Georgia in the presidential race appears to have set up a recount.
Without citing any specifics, they accused him of mismanagement and a lack of transparency. Raffensperger responded by saying that if there has been any illegal voting it “is unlikely” it would rise to the numbers to change the outcome in Georgia.
“As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate,” Raffensperger said. “I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Perdue start focusing on that.”
(Loeffler and Perdue are holding a runoff rally Wednesday morning at Cobb Republican headquarters in Marietta.)
Democratic president-elect Joe Biden leads Republican president Donald Trump in Georgia by around 10,000 votes, after Trump led by more than 370,000 at the end of election night.
But as has been the case in other states, notably Pennslyvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, Biden moved ahead based largely on absentee ballots.
Biden made a victory speech on Saturday but Trump has not conceded, as his campaign is alleging voter fraud in those states and elsewere. He’s also refusing to cooperate in any transition efforts.
Boyce, who defeated then-chairman Tim Lee in 2016, is a retired Marine colonel who mentioned that it’s Veterans Day on Wednesday, “a great time to remember what we stand for. Many of us fought for freedom and still fight for freedom we all fight for freedom in our own ways.”
He said the best way to to that “is to acknowledge the will and voice of the people and to continue this transition in grace.”
Cupid will become the first Democrat to head county government since longtime chairman Ernest Barrett retired in 1984, and will be the first woman and African-American to hold the position.
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The Cobb County School District said Tuesday that its Class of 2020 senior class—marked with interruptions due to COVID-19 closures—has posted a graduation rate of 88.6 percent, its highest ever.
Those graduates also surpassed the Georgia graduation rate of 83.8 percent.
According to a release issued by the district, 10 of the 16 high schools had graduation rates of 91 percent or higher, including three in East Cobb.
Lassiter was second in the district at 97.6 percent; Walton was third at 97.5 percent; and Pope was fifth at 95.8 percent.
Kell’s graduation rate of 92.4 percent is 3.1 percent higher than 2019, and is one of the biggest improvements in the district.
Over the last five years, Cobb’s overall graduation rate has climbed 7.2 percent, and the other two East Cobb high schools have seen continued progress.
Sprayberry’s graduation rate of 89 percent is up 17 percent from 2015, and Wheeler’s was 89.5 percent this year. That’s up 2.8 percent from last year, part of a gain of 10.1 percent over the last five years.
The graduation rates are based on federal calculations of the number of students in a senior class who are enrolled for at least one day during an academic year.
The district compiled what it calls the “real” graduation rate of students who enroll over one, two, three and four years (see chart above).
“No matter the challenges this year, our teachers and principals have helped a record number of Cobb students reach the graduation stage,” said Cobb Schools Superintendent Chris Ragsdale in a statement.
Said Dr. Chris Richie, Lassiter principal:
“Over the years, we’ve had a focused collaborative effort to make sure all of our students are working toward their academic goals. The message begins in our feeder schools and is reinforced throughout our community. Setting college and career-ready goals is a consistent theme that our students, parents, teachers, and community embrace. Graduation rate is a tremendous reflection of the great work and values that our entire learning community places on education.”
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Dr. Jackie McMorris, Cobb’s county manager, has named James (Jimmy) Gisi as the county’s deputy county manager. Gisi is filling the position after the Board of Commissioners appointed McMorris county manager last April. He will step into the new position on November 15.
Gisi has served as the director of Cobb’s PARKS department since December 2016. He previously held the P.A.R.K.S. director position for 10 years before serving as the executive director of the Georgia Recreation and Park Association. In addition to his more than 33 years of government expertise, Gisi holds a Bachelor’s degree in recreation and leisure studies from the University of Georgia and a Master’s degree in public administration from Valdosta State University.
“Jimmy has worked for the county in various capacities and always stands ready and willing to help anytime we need his assistance,” said McMorris. “His experience working in parks and recreation, as well as government services and legislation, is going to be a great asset to help move the county forward for generations to come.”
“It is truly an honor to be selected as Cobb County’s next deputy county manager. I appreciate the confidence and trust the county manager has placed in me and I look forward to joining her management team,” Gisi said. “Cobb County is truly a great place to live, work, play, and raise a family. Our employees are the best at what they do and we should always strive to maintain our high standards while also seeking to raise the bar of service delivery.”
A longtime resident of Cobb County, Gisi resides in Powder Springs with Angela, his wife of 36 years. He is an ardent college football fan, avid hunter and spoils his three (soon to be four) grandsons anyway he can.
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Zoning notice signs have gone up along the southwest corner of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection, and the proposal is a major one that’s been placed on the December calendar.
A little more than 33 acres is being proposed for a mixed-use development that’s quite different than what came before Cobb commissioners before being withdrawn in early 2017.
That was for single-family homes and townhomes by CalAtlantic Group, a residential developer, and drew some vocal community opposition.
What’s been filed with the Cobb Zoning Office would include a megachurch, restaurant and retail space and 125 townhomes.
The applicant is different, too: North Point Ministries, Inc., which has seven non-denominational churches in metro Atlanta. The founder is Andy Stanley, son of retired First Baptist Church of Atlanta pastor Charles Stanley.
Since its founding in 1995, North Point has added churches in Buckhead, Gwinnett County, Woodstock and Decatur.
This one would be what North Point is calling its “East Cobb campus.” According to an initial site plan filed with the county, it would be located right on the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corner, with parking fronting both roads.
The site plan calls for a parking deck facing Shallowford, and parking along Johnson Ferry also is being designated for “future commercial” space that would have restaurant and retail uses; neither of those components have any further details for now.
Those filings also don’t indicate the proposed capacity inside the church—the flagship North Point Community Church in Alpharetta can hold up to 3,000 people, as does North Point’s Buckhead Church.
For a larger view, click here. Shallowford Road is at the left; Johnson Ferry Road is at the top.
The rezoning request also calls for 125 townhomes in the back of the development, on either side of Waterfront Drive, under the RM-8 zoning category. The townhomes would have a minimum size of 1,800 square feet.
Most of that land is currently zoned R-20 and is where single-family homes now exist.
The property would be divided by an existing stormwater management area that includes a dry lake. That’s been referred to as Maddox Lake—it was located behind the now-demolished home of former Gov. Lester Maddox along Johnson Ferry.
There aren’t any renderings, elevations or variance requests that are included for now in the rezoning request.
In that plan, several redevelopment options for the southwest intersection of “JOSH” were detailed, most of them of the mixed-use variety.
None of them included a facility for religious worship. The request states that single-family residential use “is economically unfeasible” and that the zoning proposal comforms to the county’s future land use map.
Nearly 30 parcels of land making up the North Point request have been assembled by The ‘True Vine’ Experience Foundation, Inc.; Sara M. Sweeney and Hanna Land Company, Inc.
The latter is headed by Fred Hanna, an East Cobb resident who’s the founder of the Frederick J. Hanna & Associates debt-collection law firm.
The ‘True Vine’ Experience is a pastoral ministry founded by Hanna’s wife, Lynn Hanna, and he’s listed as its CFO and secretary in non-profit filings.
Sweeney is a chiropractor whose practice is at 4260 Shallowford Road, one of the parcels in the assemblage. Hanna interests have owned some of the parcels as early as 2004.
The Cobb Zoning Office hasn’t yet released a detailed analysis of the rezoning request with recommendations.
The Cobb Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the case on Dec. 1 and the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Dec. 15.
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