Cobb Police said Tuesday night that Cody Demmitt has been captured in Arkansas.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
The Cobb Police Department late Monday afternoon released a photo of a man suspected of injuring one person during a shooting on Sunday at a home in Northeast Cobb.
Police said they’ve obtained an arrest warrant for Cody Demmitt, who remains at-large and is wanted for aggravated assault.
According to a police release, Demmitt shot multiple rounds at a residence at 3760 Westchase Drive, located in the Canterbury Ridge subdivision off Canton Road and near Hawkins Store Road.
Police said their detectives said were called to the home at 11:30 p.m. Sunday after a shooting had been reported.
Police said they found a male with a gunshot wound to a shoulder, and he was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Police said Demmitt is a neighbor of the victim, and had not been allowed to attend a party at the home. Demmitt fired several shots in the house and fled the scene before law enforcement arrived, police said.
Anyone with information about the incident should call Cobb County Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit at 770-499-3945.
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A developer who is seeking to convert the former Park 12 Cobb Cinema in East Cobb into a storage facility wants some additional time to prepare its case.
On Monday, Stein Investment Group sent a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office seeking a delay in the proposal’s initial hearings to July.
Stein’s request for a special-land use permit is listed on the Cobb Planning Commission agenda for next Tuesday, June 1.
The zoning staff has recommended approval with some conditions. but Garvis Sams, an attorney for Stein, wrote in the letter that the delay is needed “in order to fully complete all tasks with which are charged.”
He wasn’t more specific than that.
In addition to a SLUP (site plan here), which is required for self-storage facilities in unincorporated Cobb, Stein also is amending a previous zoning decision for the general commercial category that had been approved for the theater.
The SLUP would be heard by the Planning Commission on July 6, and the “Other Business” item would be heard by Cobb commissioners on July 16.
Park 12 Cobb closed at the end of 2020, more than three years after a community fight to keep it open as a movie theater.
Nearby residents opposed a rezoning case to turn the property on Gordy Parkway at Shallowford Road into a Lidl grocery store. Some wanted to have movies nearby, and others were concerned about traffic, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners turned down the rezoning request in September 2017.
At the time, Lidl attorney Parks Huff said that “this is not a difficult decision. This is technically a property rights issue and needs to be approved.”
The cinema owner, Georgia Theatre Company, had expressed a desire at the time to sell the property.
Park 12 Cobb briefly reopened last fall after COVID-19 closures, but GTC made the decision to permanently shutter that cinema as well as others in its Georgia and the southeast region.
Another self-storage facility sits nearby, as part of the Sandy Plains MarketPlace retail center on the former site of Mountain View Elementary School.
Meanwhile, a Lidl store not far down in the Sandy Plains Road corridor would anchor the proposed Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment, that’s slated to be heard yet again by the planning board in June.
The Planning Commission voted to hold the case for further traffic details after a second full hearing in as many months.
The East Cobb Church proposed mixed-use development also was delayed to June.
The full agenda for next Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting can be found here.
It begins at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
There will be limited in-person seating due to social distancing protocols, but the meeting will be live-streamed on the county’s Facebook Live and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
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Because all 17 high school graduations in the Cobb County School District are being held in a single location, those commencement exercises will take place over the next two weeks.
The Cobb school district announced in February that due to COVID-19 considerations, Cantrell Stadium at McEachern High School will be the venue for all schools.
That’s the largest-capacity stadium in the Cobb school district, and where delayed 2020 graduations took place last July.
Here’s what the Cobb school district posted earlier this month about how those graduations will be taking place:
“Ceremonies are scheduled Monday, May 24, through Friday, June 4, with Saturday, June 5, reserved for making up ceremonies postponed due to inclement weather. Ceremonies are not scheduled on Sunday, May 30, or Memorial Day, Monday, May 31. Ceremonies are only scheduled for mornings and afternoons to avoid the heat of the afternoon.
“Tickets will be limited due to public health guidance. Specifics about ticket allocations and distribution will be provided by the individual high schools in late March. To accommodate family and friends who are unable to attend, each ceremony will be streamed live.”
And here’s the graduation schedule for the six high schools in East Cobb:
Tuesday, May 25: Lassiter High School, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, May 26: Pope High School, 7 p.m.
Friday, May 28: Walton High School, 9 a.m.
Saturday, May 29: Wheeler High School, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 2: Kell High School, 7 p.m.
Friday, June 4: Sprayberry High School, 7 p.m.
More graduation details, including links to livestreams of commencement exercises, can be found by clicking here.
Earlier this week Cobb school officials unveiled a draft list for what would be a Cobb Education SPLOST VI sales-tax referendum that calls for the construction of a special events facility.
Until the pandemic, most Cobb high school graduations took place at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center. Some schools have had graduations on their own campuses, including Wheeler, as well as large church sanctuaries in the county.
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The Georgia High School Association has scheduled some of its baseball championship series for Truist Park next week, and there’s going to be a Cobb County presence with Lassiter High School.
The Trojans (32-6) will meet Houston County in a best-of-three doubleheader for the Class 6A title starting at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, followed by Game 2 of that series the same night.
Should the series go to a decisive third game, it would take place on Thursday at 12 p.m.
Lassiter defeated East Cobb rival Pope in the semifinals this week to reach the state title series for the first time in 11 years.
Lassiter won state titles in 1999 and 2006.
Tickets are $15 and will be available for purchase online athttps://gofan.co/app/school/GHSA. Parking for the championship games at Truist Park (755 Battery Ave.) is free in the Red Deck for three hours
For more information on the games as well as the GHSA, please visit www.ghsa.net.
Other GHSA state title series are being played at Coolray Field in Gwinnett and in Savannah. Here’s the schedule for the games at Truist Park, as released by the Atlanta Braves:
Monday, May 24
7A – Parkview High School vs North Paulding High School: First Pitch 5 p.m. with Game 2 set to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Tuesday, May 25:
7A – Parkview High School vs North Paulding High School: First Pitch 12 p.m. (If needed)
5A – Loganville High School vs Starr’s Mill High School: First Pitch 5 p.m. with Game 2 set to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Wednesday, May 26:
5A – Loganville High School vs Starr’s Mill High School: First Pitch 12 p.m. (If needed)
6A – Lassiter High School vs Houston County High School: First Pitch 5 p.m. with Game 2 set to start 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
Thursday, May 27:
6A – Lassiter High School vs Houston County High School: First Pitch 12 p.m. (If needed)
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Soren Tucker posted a Hamlet-like photo on his Instagram page on his 18th birthday.
Since changing his first name as a sophomore at Pope High School, Soren Tucker says he hasn’t encountered many issues with identifying as transgender since then.
Born female, Tucker for the last two-plus years has gone by a family name from his mother’s side of the family, which is of Norwegian ancestry. He says he has largely been supported by other students and teachers at Pope.
Soren Tucker is the name listed under his senior photo in his yearbook, and as an active member of Pope Theatre He even performed in a male role last fall in the club’s presentation of a one-act play entitled “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”
Soren Tucker’s senior photo in the Pope yearbook.
But when Pope holds its commencement exercise Wednesday, Tucker’s birth name will be on his diploma, and more than likely will be uttered during Pope’s roll-call of graduating seniors.
That’s because Cobb County School District policy requires diplomas and graduation call-lists to include a student’s legal name.
Tucker, who turned 18 last fall, has not yet begun the process of legally changing his name, and is just now beginning to explore that process.
He said “I do plan on walking [to receive his diploma], but I’m not sure what I will do” if he does not hear his preferred name.
Tucker, who declined to reveal his birth name in an interview with East Cobb News, said he’s still hoping to have Soren listed on the call list, if not the diploma.
Lily Smith, a friend of Tucker’s, has begun an online petition that in just a few days has generated more than 13,000 signatures.
“Despite being fully supported and correctly recognized by students and staff, the administration refuses to recognize Soren by his name,” Smith wrote in her appeal. “This is a BLATANT act of transphobia, and the students of Pope High School do not and will not stand for hate, prejudice, and discrimination against their students. PLEASE sign and help us right this wrong.”
A spokeswoman for the Cobb County School District reiterated the naming policy in response to a request for comment from East Cobb News, saying legal names are used for all official school business.
“If any student or family changes a student’s legal name, we update that student’s official record which impacts, among other examples, their schedules, transcripts, and diplomas,” the spokeswoman said.
When asked how he came to identify as transgender, Tucker said that for many people like him, “you just always know something’s not right.”
He said he’s trying to be happier in his life, and making a name change is “the easiest thing” he says he can do to become more comfortable at this point in his transition.
When asked if he’s planning on hormone treatment or surgery in the future, Tucker said that “generally, I prefer to live in the present.”
Tucker’s near-future includes enrolling as a freshman this fall at Kennesaw State University, where he plans to major in theatre performance and where he can use his preferred name.
Tucker says undergoing a name change is more than symbolic.
“It comes from knowing that something isn’t right,” he said. “It holds a lot more meaning than just a name. Transgender people just want to be regarded for who they really are.”
An honor Tucker received as a Pope senior includes his preferred first name.
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Cobb school board members heard plenty from parents Thursday about Critical Race Theory, masks and an upcoming accreditation review.
After highly-charged comments from parents Thursday and a response from a school board member on the subject of Critical Race Theory, Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale weighed in on the increasingly controversial topic.
At Thursday’s Cobb Board of Education meetings, Ragsdale said that “as long as I am Superintendent, I will commit to keeping any theory or curriculum, which is not part of Georgia’s standards, out of every Cobb County classroom.”
Those comments were included in a statement the Cobb County School District issued Friday morning, prefaced by asserting that “Ragsdale made it clear that the staff in Cobb Schools will continue to focus on keeping Cobb’s schools, schools.”
The statement included links from the Cobb school district’s performances in standardized tests and other academic indicators.
“District data clearly indicates that the Superintendent’s laser-like focus on success for each Cobb student is working for our students, families, and county,” the CCSD statement reads.
A number of parents addressed the Cobb school board at Thursday’s meetings about Critical Race Theory, which asserts that racism is a social construct and has led to “systemic racism” that pervades law, policy, culture and other aspects of American society.
At Thursday night’s board meeting, parent Jeff Clark said that while “we need an honest conversation about race, this isn’t it. This is indoctrination.”
He said that “radical members of this committee [school board] are holding our children hostage. . . . Let us teach Dr. King’s message, not Mao’s.”
At a Thursday afternoon work session, East Cobb parent Amy Henry called Critical Race Theory “child abuse. . . . You’ve awokened Mama Bears all across Cobb. But we’re not woke, we’re just awake.”
“Woke” is a slang term used by racial and social justice activists in making references to social awareness.
Earlier Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wrote a letter to the Georgia Board of Education asking that it “take immediate steps to ensure that Critical Race Theory and its dangerous ideology do not take root in our state standards or curriculum.”
Kemp and Carr are among the latest Republican office-holders and conservative political activists to blast Critical Race Theory, and there are bills in some state legislatures to prohibit teaching it in public schools.
On Thursday, the Cherokee County School Board voted to ban the teaching of CRT in a packed meeting in which some attendees chanted “no CRT.”
Some Cobb parents making critical comments of CRT also accused the three Democrats on the school board for threatening to undermine the academic quality of the school district with their request for a special review by its accreditation agency.
Two of those Democrats, Jaha Howard and Charisse Davis, have been pressing for the Cobb school district to create the position of Chief Equity Officer to oversee, among other things, diversity issues.
No such position has been suggested by Ragsdale or the four Republicans who make up the school board majority.
The Cherokee school board also voted Thursday not to proceed with a “diversity, equity and inclusion” program that is being adopted by corporations, non-profits as well as K-12 and higher education institutions, including Georgia State University.
Cobb school board members didn’t respond to the public comments about CRT during their meetings.
But late Thursday night, Davis, who represents the Walton and Wheeler clusters, wrote on her Facebook page that “the Critical Race Theory (CRT) debate has been bizarre…mainly how it became a scripted conservative talking point 40+ years after its inception.”
She said in response to comments from Cobb school parents that “I would struggle to give you a complete definition of all that CRT entails and let’s admit that three people on a board of seven would not be responsible for CRT (OR the mask decision you don’t like for that matter). And please stop sharing MLK quotes in the arguments against CRT. MLK was considered a radical and paid for it with his life.”
In her post, Davis also linked to a story in Boston Review called “The War on Critical Race Theory” that was shared by Maureen Downey, an education journalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“This week’s discussion of critical race theory, prompted by the crowds showing up at local school board meetings decrying what they consider the application of CRT in their schools, has led to comments by folks who only show up when we are discussing racial issues,” Downey wrote.
Over the last two years, Cobb school board members have openly clashed on racial topics. They couldn’t come to a consensus on an anti-racism resolution last summer in the wake of the George Floyd death in Minneapolis.
School board member David Banks of East Cobb said during his re-election campaign last fall that he considered “white flight” the biggest long-term challenge facing the Cobb school district, leading to accusations by Davis that he was “spewing racist trash.”
After the November elections, the four school board Republicans voted to abolish a newly-approved committee to examine naming policies for Cobb school district schools and buildings.
Among those facilities targeted for a name change is Wheeler High School, named after a Confederate Civil War general.
Howard accused his GOP colleagues of “systemic racism” for that vote and for requiring a board majority to place items on the board’s meeting agendas.
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A rebuild of Sprayberry High School and annexes for several elementary schools in East Cobb are among the possible projects on a draft list for the proposed Cobb Education SPLOST VI draft list that was revealed Thursday.
During a Cobb Board of Education work session, Dr. James Wilson, a planning consultant for the Cobb County School District, outlined the major projects (as seen in the graphic above).
Referring to Sprayberry, he said that “a rebuild of major portions of that school” are needed for a 38-year-old campus whose last upgrade was a decade ago with a new auditorium.
A new career and technology building is earmarked at Sprayberry in the current SPLOST V period, but a construction timeline hasn’t been announced.
Wilson said the school board will be asked in September to approve a construction project for a new Sprayberry gym, which is included in the current SPLOST V collection period.
A parents group has been publicly pushing for a Sprayberry rebuild this spring, pointing out that other high schools in East Cobb have been recently getting rebuilds and major facilities improvements.
New annexes are proposed at Kincaid, Mt. Bethel, Murdock, Sope Creek and Tritt elementary schools in East Cobb, and an addition and modifications are being proposed for Bells Ferry Elementary School.
The draft list includes a commencement and special events center for the 112,000-student school district, a second career academy in the north Cobb area, athletic facility improvements, security and technology upgrades and the ability to build “undesignated classrooms,” where they’re needed but whose exact locations aren’t known now.
Wilson said a major emphasis of SPLOST VI—if it’s approved by Cobb voters in November—would be major infrastructure improvements at many schools and including 18 areas of work.
Details of the draft list were to be posted on the Cobb school district’s website. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said the draft list won’t be modified much before a final list is presented in June to the Cobb school board, which will be asked to pass a resolution calling for a November referendum.
SPLOST VI would begin in 2024 and would collect a one-percent sales tax for five years, generating nearly $900 million for school facility, maintenance and technology expenses.
The draft list calls for a rebuild for the main building at Sprayberry, which relocated to the northwest intersection of Sandy Plains Road and East Piedmont Road in 1973.
“It’s not going to be the entire school,” superintendent Chris Ragsdale said, adding that language that was consistent with recent projects at Walton, Osborne, Pebblebrook and Campbell high schools.
“It’s something that at least a couple people are pleased to hear it,” said school board member David Chastain, who represents the Sprayberry attendance zone, noting the lobbying by the parents’ group that has included several rallies on campus to bring attention to their efforts.
When school board member David Banks asked whether possible land purchases might be considered for Sprayberry, Ragsdale said that specifics won’t be discussed publicly (acquisitions are allowed to be discussed in executive session) and that “we’re always looking” for land for school facilities throughout the county.
Rebuilds of the main buildings on the campuses of Walton and Wheeler High School in East Cobb have taken place in recent years.
Ragsdale said the Walton project was the most challenging because it has the smallest land area of any high school in the Cobb school district.
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CenterStage North, the community theatre that stages live performances at The Art Place-Mountain View, announced Wednesday it will not be holding its 2021 season due to ongoing local restrictions related to COVID-19.
In a social media posting, the theatre’s board said that “latter-year scheduling conflicts will make a return for CenterStage North impossible in 2021. This is sad news for all of us. We miss you, our loyal patrons; we miss the stage; we miss the camaraderie; and we miss our art.”
The message indicated that “we have a season fully selected and ready to begin in February 2022. We’ve got an exciting season lined up that kicks off with a comedy-drama, followed by a Southern comedy in May, a head-spinning (and door-slamming!) farce in August, an audience-interactive musical in October (we would give you a Clue, but ….), and finally a heartwarming holiday show will close out our season in December 2022.”
CenterStage North performances haven’t taken place since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
The board’s message also said that anyone who’s purchased tickets or a subscription for performances in 2020 and 2021 will have their payments applied to the 2022 season. Those seeking refunds should e-mail [email protected].
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Roadwork is expected to cause delays on Sandy Plains Road Weather permitting, the Cobb County Water System will continue making warranty repairs to the roadway on Sandy Plains Road between Piedmont and Ebenezer Thursday, May 20, and Friday, May 21. Work will involve temporary lane closures in the northbound direction beginning in the morning at approximately 9 a.m.
All lane closures will be removed before 4 p.m. each day.
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The Cobb Board of Education’s monthly meetings on Thursday include a required public hearing on the proposed fiscal year 2022 operating budget.
The public hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, before the scheduled 7 p.m. voting meeting. The school board also will hold a public work session starting at 1 p.m.
All the meetings take place in the board’s meeting room at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover St., Marietta.
All of the public meetings will be livestreamed on the district’s BoxCast channel and on CobbEdTV, Comcast Channel 24An executive session is scheduled between the work session and budget hearing.
The budget proposal proposes holding the line on the school district’s property tax rate of 18.9 mills and using $51 million in reserve funding to reach a balance (budget summary here).
Also projected for FY 2022, which begins on July 1, is a 5.54 percent growth in the Cobb tax digest.
The school board tentatively adopted the budget in April for the purpose of advertising public hearings.
The final public hearing and formal budget adoption is scheduled for June 10.
More Cobb school district budget and financial data can be found by clicking here, including general fund and other fund overviews and line-item details, and video presentations of previous budget presentations to the school board.
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The following East Cobb food scores for the weeks of May 10-17 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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At the end of the Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting on May 11 the elder stateswoman of the all-female body got a surprise recognition.
JoAnn Birrell, who is in her third term representing District 3 that includes most of northeast Cobb, was recognized in remarks by board chairwoman Lisa Cupid.
Cupid said she could “no longer keep the cat out of the bag” when Birrell’s husband David was spotted in attendance in the socially-distanced audience, and he later joined her at the front of the board meeting room.
This year Birrell is marking her 10th anniversary as a member of the board, and in showing a photo montage Cupid said she is “a tireless advocate in representing her constituents in District 3.
“She’s just been a friend and advocate to so many of us here.”
Birrell (full bio here) was first elected in 2010 to succeed then-chairman Tim Lee, and was re-elected in 2014 and 2018.
She moved to the top of the board’s seniority list when former commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb retired in December, after serving three terms.
Among Birrell’s key priorities as commissioner includes advocating for public safety, Keep Cobb Beautiful, the Keep It In Cobb program for doing business with the county.
She also supports Superior Pets for Patriotic Vets, in which military veterans adopt animals at the Cobb Animal Services Shelter, with the fees paid by Superior Plumbing.
“I can’t thank you enough for surprising me,” Birrell said.
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Wheeler High School football head coach Bryan Love is hosting a free football and cheer camp this Sunday May 23 from 4-6 p.m. at the Wheeler football stadium for current youths pre-K to 5th grade.
No equipment needed just shorts, cleats or tennis shoes and bring a water bottle with your name on it.
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The Cumberland Community Improvement District (CID) launched a new bike share station on Tuesday at the Galleria Gardens. The station located in the Galleria Office Park Complex now brings the Cumberland Bike Share to seven stations. The launch showcased bike test rides, information about the Cumberland Bike Share, giveaways, and featured trails in Cumberland using the Cumberland CID’s website cumberlandtrails.org.
“We are thrilled to feature this bike station within one of the largest most bustling office centers in the region,” said Kim Menefee, executive director of the Cumberland CID. “We appreciate the partnership with Piedmont Office Realty Trust and Childress Klein to bring bike share to their tenants and the surrounding Cumberland community. The CID Bike Share program is designed to provide a viable transportation alternative to explore and discover the best of what Cumberland has to offer.”
Because of the Cumberland CID’s strategic investments in trails and connectivity, Cumberland has evolved into a hub of greenway and regional trail connections that attracts walkers, joggers, cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts. The Cumberland Bike Share and the Cumberland Trails Network connect visitors and residents to Cumberland’s vibrant core area, including The Battery Atlanta, Truist Park, Cobb Galleria Centre and more.
To find out more about station locations, visit Cumberland Bike Share webpage (https://www.cumberlandtrails.org/cumberland-bike-share/.) To rent a bike, download the Movatic app on your smartphone and follow the registration guide.
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Combined PCR and Antigen cases for Cobb County. Source: Georgia Department of Public Health. For more information click here.
The day after the Centers for Disease Control offered major guidance for vaccinated people, the head of Cobb and Douglas Public Health issued encouraging words about local COVID-19 metrics.
In her weekly message on Friday, Dr. Janet Memark said trends over the last two weeks “have been the most optimistic that we’ve had in a long while.”
While case numbers in Cobb are still in what’s called “high transmission”—a 14-day average of 100 cases or less per 100,000 people, for both PCR and Antigen tests combined—”they are heading in the right direction. We also see percentage positive rates that are also very promising. Hospitalizations also remain at lower levels and do not seem to be trending upwards at this time.”
As of Saturday, that number in Cobb has was 139, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health, which publishes a daily status report.
Another key indicator she mentioned is the test positivity rate, and earlier this week Memark told the Cobb Board of Commissioners that number has fallen to around 3 percent, well below the 5 percent threshold that concerns public health officials.
She also said 31 percent of Cobb County residents—by total population— are “fully vaccinated,” meaning they have received both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
“We continue to be under the national statistics and need to keep going with vaccinations to ensure that this pandemic remains controlled,” she said, adding that “We are on the right track.”
Those developments came as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15. Georgians 16 and older have been eligible for vaccinations, and Memark said Friday that “we urge all citizens 12 years and older to get vaccinated as soon as possible.”
Cobb and Douglas Public Health is administering the Pfizer vaccine at Jim Miller Park (2245 Callaway Road) at the following times:
Cobb and Douglas Public Health is also continuing to provide free COVID-19 testing; details can be found here.
As of Saturday, there have been 78,824 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cobb County since the pandemic began in March 2020, and 1,057 confirmed and probable deaths.
Cobb and Douglas Public health noted this week that people 70 and older represent 8 percent of Cobb’s overall population but they account for 72 percent of the deaths. Those 80 and older comprise 42 percent of all the deaths in Cobb.
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Summer Adventure Challenge Kickoff celebrations presented by the Cobb County Public Library System will be staged outdoors at four libraries in the early evening Friday, May 21.
The all-ages Kickoff celebrations will be 6 pm to 8 pm at:
South Cobb Regional Library, 805 Clay Road, Mableton 30126. 678-398-5828
West Cobb Regional Library, 1750 Dennis Kemp Ln NW, Kennesaw 30152. 770-528-4699.
Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center, 2051 Lower Roswell Rd, Marietta 30068. 770-509-2711.
The Summer Adventure Challenge designed to encourage reading through the season runs June 1-July 31. “Tails & Tales” is the 2021 summer reading theme with Cobb libraries highlighting animal stories and habitats from across the globe. Supporters for the local program include Georgia Public Library Service and Cobb Library Foundation.
The Kickoff events will be a celebration of summer reading – and everyone is encouraged to wear animal costumes and plan to be engaged in the festive atmosphere, organizers say.
“Each of the four Kickoff events will be unique,” said Mary Wood, Community Engagement Manager. “This will be fun, family events.”
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Construction begins on the first Habitat home in Cobb County in 1987.
Submitted information and photo:
Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Metro Atlanta is celebrating its 35thAnniversary this month. From humble beginnings born out of Marietta resident Chrys Street’s idea to bring the Habitat model to Cobb County in 1986; to today, the mission to provide a hand up to those in need of decent shelter has remained the same.
Since its humble founding in the basement of a local church, the affiliate has built, renovated, or repaired more than 600 homes in Cobb, Douglas, and Paulding counties.
In 2020, the affiliate embarked on a $2.5 million Sweetwater Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative in Austell, Georgia. The project includes the construction of eight new homes, the rehabilitation of eight existing homes and critical repairs of 12 homes. In 2021, the non-profit built and dedicated its first two-story house in the neighborhood.
“We celebrate this milestone because 600 families in our community overcame generational poverty and raised children in secure homes because of the work of our donors, sponsors and volunteers over the last 35 years. Below are just a few of our milestones through the years,” said Jessica Gill, CEO.
1986 – Affiliate incorporates, and becomes a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
1987 – First two houses are built, by the building and construction classes of Marietta and South Cobb High Schools
1988 – Two houses are dedicated
1990 – Original Habitat Thrift Store opens
1993 – First subdivision is built, in Powder Springs and named “Chrys Street,” and the “Riverside Revival” happens, the first remodeling of six homes
1996 – First Neighborhood Revitalization Project happens, on Roosevelt Circle in Marietta
2008 – Service area expands to Douglas and Paulding counties
2014 – Affiliate reaches 40 sponsors, 3,000 volunteers, and 15 houses in one year
2016 – Habitat ReStore has grand opening in Smyrn
2018 – All-military neighborhood, Veterans Place, breaks ground in Douglasville, and first Women’s Build takes place
2020– The next Neighborhood Revitalization Project begins in the Sweetwater neighborhood in Austell, GA
2021 – First two-story house is dedicated, sponsored by the Cobb Catholic Coalition
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The East Cobb Cityhood Committee is holding its second virtual town hall meeting next week, with Milton Mayor Joe Lockwood as the featured guest.
The town hall is next Thursday, May 20, starting at 6 p.m., and you can register by clicking here. You can read more about Lockwood by clicking here.
The event will focus on the proposed services for the proposed city of East Cobb—planning and zoning, code enforcement and parks and recreation.
There will be a Q and A session and participants can submit questions when they sign up.
The City of Milton was formed out of part of unincorporated North Fulton in 2006 and has 39,000 residents.
During 2019, East Cobb Cityhood leaders often referred to Milton as a model for what it was proposing at the time—primarily police and fire services—in a community with similar levels of affluence and demographics.
Milton also provides public works, community development (zoning and code enforcement), and parks and recreation.
The previous East Cobb Cityhood effort also pointed to Milton for its steady millage rate, which has been slightly lowered in each of the last two years.
The revived East Cobb group this week posted a “case study” about Milton’s tax surplus and financial status, as well as its provision of services (and another for Peachtree Corners, which became a city in Gwinnett County in 2017 and has a zero millage rate).
Lockwood was re-elected in 2020 to his fourth and final two-year term as Mayor of Milton.
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 School District announced late Thursday afternoon that fully vaccinated students and staff no longer have to wear masks or practice social distancing.
The Cobb schools announcement states the following:
Fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask or physically distance in any setting, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance;
Fully vaccinated people can refrain from testing following a known exposure unless they are residents or employees of a correctional or detention facility or a homeless shelter.
The announcement didn’t state whether people not wearing masks on Cobb school campuses or for related activities would have to show a proof of vaccination.
The current academic year ends in the Cobb school district on May 26.
This week the Food and Drug Administration authorized emergency use for the Pfizer vaccine for ages 12-15.
The Cobb school district said that students and staff who wish to continue wearing masks may still do so, and that as “our cases are continuing to trend down and vaccinations are trending up, we fully expect to start the 2021-2022 school year with masks as optional.”
The first day of school is Aug. 2.
The Cobb school district imposed a mask mandate for all students and staff when in-person instruction began in October.
In March, several parents sued the district to drop the mask mandate, but their request for a temporary restraining order was denied last week in federal court. The lawsuit remains pending, according to Robert Madayag, one of the parent group’s attorneys.
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!
Hightower Trail Middle School was recently crowned Georgia champion of the 7th annual Vocabulary Bowl, which tested more than 1.3 million students across the country.
The contest is sponsored by Vocabulary.com, which will recognize all 50 U.S. state and 9 Canadian provincial winnerswith championship banners.
This year Pope High School of East Cobb was the Georgia runner-up after being the 2019-20 state champion.
Hightower Trail also finished 10th overall among middle schools. Here’s principal Laura Montgomery on how her students improved their Vocabulary Bowl prowess while improving their literacy skills:
“Increasing vocabulary, which aids in effective communication, is part of our daily goal of addressing 21st Century Skills as a STEM school. The students at HTMS worked hard this year to practice their vocabulary using Vocabulary.com. Throughout the year, teachers assigned practice lists related to the books we read and things we study in other classes. Students answered a variety of questions for practices involving context, definitions, and even pictures. Some students even explored and practiced additional lists related to their interests—astronomy, civil rights, and even baseball. In the end, HTMS students mastered over 113,000 words on the program! It’s impressive, mind-boggling, staggering, and awesome!”
Here’s more about the 2020-2021 Vocabulary Bowl:
Total students participating: 1,300,000+ million students
Total schools participating: 43,500+
Total words mastered: 36,600,000+
K-12 students from 50 U.S. states, U.S. territories and 9 Canadian provinces participated
Students earn points for their school by mastering words on Vocabulary.com
See the full results of this season’s Vocabulary Bowl here.
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 spokeswoman for the Cobb County School District reiterated the naming policy in response to a request for comment from East Cobb News, saying legal names are used for all official school business.
