As graduations continue this week, Cobb schools valedictorians and salutatorians have been named. The district also has released some college-bound information for the class of 2018.
About 76 percent of the graduates across the Cobb County School District are headed for college, according to information made public Tuesday. A total of 6,078 of the more than 8,000 graduates are heading for college.
Topping the list are Walton and Lassiter in East Cobb, with each school having more than 500 college-bound seniors.
In addition, more than $115 million in scholarship aid has been awarded to Cobb graduates, with students from Walton leading the way with $18.9 million.
Here are the East Cobb high school valedictorians and salutatorians, including their grade-point averages, where they’re headed to college and what they’ll be studying:
Kell High School
Valedictorian: Brian Tyler Buckley (4.5, Georgia Tech, industrial engineering)
Salutatorian: Veronica May Achinger (4.403, UGA, middle grades education)
Salutatorian: Neal Michael Ostrowski (4.680, UNC-Chapel Hill, biomedical engineering)
Pope High School
Valedictorian: Caleigh Ann Cullinan (4.768, UGA, biology and psychology)
Salutatorian: Hisham Kashif (4.741, Augusta University, cell and molecular biology)
Sprayberry High School
Valedictorian: Mark Andrew Giles, Jr. (4.726, Mercer University, neuroscience and pre-medicine)
Salutatorian: Payton Grace Wade (4.636, College of Charleston, biology)
Walton High School
Valedictorian: Andrew Hoon Chyong (4.8, Georgia Tech, biomedical engineering)
Salutatorian: Melody Mei Wang (4.759, Harvard University, economics)
Wheeler High School
Valedictorian: Shawn Michael Doss (4.735, Johns Hopkins University, neuroscience)
Salutatorian: Grace Kathryn Whittington (4.727, Yale University, global affairs).
More fun facts about some East Cobb students from the Class of 2018, via the CCSD:
Lassiter High School:
A student is attending Cambridge University in United Kingdom, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the world.
About 28 students will be NCAA athletes.
Pope High School:
Pope graduates will attend MIT, Emory, Georgetown, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Williams College, Northeastern, Loyola Chicago, and American.
Pope students were accepted to Furman, Howard, George Washington, UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Washington & Lee, Cleveland Institute of Music, Rose-Holman Institute of Technology, Rensselaer Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology, Duke, Davidson, Johns Hopkins, The Peabody Institute, Carlton, and Rice.
Walton High School:
Melody Wang was a U.S. Presidential Scholar semifinalist.
Walton graduates include three STAR Students, Robert Morgan, Grace Zhou and Daniel Hudadoff
Five Georgia Scholars attended Walton: Ekta Deshmukh, Daniel Hudadoff, Madelyn Johnson, Laura Key, Adarshini Raja
Two of the Military Academy appointments come from Walton: Wesley Nourachi to U.S. Naval Academy and Blaine McDonough to U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
Wheeler High School:
Foundation Fellow at University of Georgia, Tate Hunda
Offered the STAMPS Scholarship at Georgia Tech, Grace Whittington
Accepted ROTC Scholarship to Auburn, Mitchell Landrum
Georgia Scholar, MJ Locke.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The voting precinct at Eastside Baptist Church. The final hours of primary voting Tuesday were soggy, as a late afternoon rain storm swept through East Cobb. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
UPDATED, 11:30 P.M.:
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell has fended off a challenge from Tom Cheek to win the Republican primary in District 3.
Birrell received 5,422 votes, or 58.48 percent, to 3,850 votes for Cheek, or 41.52 percent.
That’s with 98 percent of the vote, as tabulated by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office at 11:09 p.m.
In November, Birrell will face Caroline Holko, a first-time candidate, who easily won the Democratic primary. Holko received 5,643 votes, or 80.69 percent, to 1,350 votes for Jim Smith, or 19.31 percent.
Birrell, first elected in 2010, ran on a platform of opposing tax increases, helping spur redevelopment of the Canton Road corridor and working to establish Mabry Park.
Cheek, a critic of former commission chairman Tim Lee for his handling of the Atlanta Braves stadium deal, campaigned for SPLOST reform, reduced county spending and limiting high-density development.
Holko is a home-schooling mother and liberal political advocate who supports greater transit options in Cobb. She also is opposed to cuts for Cobb libraries and senior services. Smith is a retired Cobb-Marietta water system employee who pushed for greater salary increases for county employees.
Disrict 3 includes some of Northeast Cobb, as well as the Town Center and Kennesaw areas and much of the city of Marietta.
Final results in two contested East Cobb-area legislative races are incomplete as of 11:30 p.m., as is the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District race, which may be going to a runoff.
In the Democratic primary for the 6th Congressional District, Lucy McBath has 37 percent of the vote, Kevin Abel 33 percent, Bobby Kaple 24 percent and Steven Knight Griffin 5 percent.
But that’s only the advance voting totals and a few precincts reporting in a district that includes East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb. The winner will face U.S. Rep. Karen Handel, a Republican, in November.
There also are only very early results in House District 44, where State Rep. Don Parsons, a Republican, was being challenged by Homer Crothers in GOP balloting.
Parsons had 2,835 votes, or 79.36 percent, to 742 for Crothers, or 20.74 percent. The winner faces Democrat Chinita Allen in November.
In State House District 37, Marietta activist Mary Frances Williams had 1,938 votes, or 70.27 percent, in the Democratic primary. Trailing were Ragin Edwards with 501 votes, or 18.17 percent, and Bill Bolton with 319 votes, or 11.57 percent.
The winner faces Republican incumbent Sam Teasley in November.
More coverage is coming on Wednesday, once the final results are in, as is a detailed look at the District 3 voting.
In Cobb commission District 1 in north and west Cobb, Republican incumbent Bob Weatherford is headed for a runoff against Kelli Gambrill.
In the governor’s race, former Georgia House Minority leader Stacey Abrams easily won the Democratic nomination over Cobb former State Rep. Stacey Evans, by a 76-24 percent margin.
Abrams becomes the first woman to become a major party nominee for Georgia governor, and the first African-American woman nationwide to win a major party nomination for governor.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp appear headed for a runoff in the Republican primary on July 24.
Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell has pulled away from challenger Tom Cheek in the Republican Party primary for District 3, which includes some of Northeast Cobb.
With 87 percent of precincts reporting, she has received 4,909 votes, or 58.61 percent of the vote. Cheek has 3,466 votes, or 41.39 percent.
Caroline Holko is easily winning the Democratic primary with 4,981 votes, or 80.52 percent, to 1,205 votes for Jim Smith, for 19.48 percent.
UPDATED, 9:56 P.M.
Nearly half the vote has been counted in the Cobb Commission District 3 elections.
With 44 percent of precincts reporting, incumbent JoAnn Birrell’s lead in the GOP primary has shrunk only slightly. She has 3,077 votes, or 58.76 percent, to 2,160 votes for Tom Cheek, or 41.24 percent.
Caroline Holko continues to lead easily in the Democratic primary. She has 3,002 votes, or 79.97 percent, to 752 votes for Jim Smith, or 20.03 percent.
UPDATED, 8:53 P.M.
The first results from local Cobb races are being reported. In Cobb Commission District 3, incumbent JoAnn Birrell leads Tom Cheek 60 percent-40 percent in the Republican primary.
Birrell has 761 votes to 496 for Cheek in advance voting totals.
On the Democratic side, Caroline Holko leads James Smith 80-20 percent, or 686 to 168 votes.
UPDATED, 7:36 P.M.
Some advance and absentee voting results are rolling in for statewide offices. Casey Cagle and Brian Kemp are the early leaders in the Republican primary for governor, while Stacey Abrams is leading Stacey Evans on the Democratic side.
ORIGINAL REPORT, POSTED AT 7:01 P.M.:
East Cobb voters went to the polls today to choose party nominees for a variety of offices, including Cobb Commission District 3, the 6th Congressional District, several legislative races and as well as governor and other statewide offices.
The most closely watched race in East Cobb is District 3 on the Cobb Commission, where Republican incumbent JoAnn Birrell is being challenged by Tom Cheek in the GOP primary. The winner will face the winner of the Democratic primary between Jim Smith and Caroline Holko.
A Democratic runoff for the 6th Congressional District seat is possible, with Kevin Abel, Steven Knight Griffin, Bobby Kaple and Lucy McBath vying to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Karen Handel in November.
State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Republican, was being challenged in the primary by Kevin James, but he was disqualified on Friday.
Voters also chose from a number of non-partisan candidates for various state and local judgeships.
A Republican runoff in the governor’s race is likely, with Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Secretary of State Brian Kemp leading in some late polls. On the Democratic side, former state House minority leader Stacey Abrams of Atlanta was leading former State Rep. Stacey Evans of Cobb.
Other races included lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and state labor, insurance, agriculture and public service commissioners, as well as state school superintendent.
Democrats were also voting on straw poll questions on gun bump stock sales, Medicaid expansion, transit funding and an independent redistricting commission.
Turnout was projected to be less than 20 percent across Cobb County.
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!
Former Walton baseball star Spencer Kieboom is back in Major League Baseball, and is staying longer than his first call-up.
Kieboom got his first major league hit over the weekend for the Washington Nationals, and he’s already played in two games.
He made his big-league debut in 2016 for Washington, but played in only one game and drew a walk. Kieboom, who played with his highly regarded brothers at Walton and later at Clemson, was called up earlier this month when catcher Matt Wieters went on the injured list.
Kieboom was batting .250 at Syracuse, the Nationals’ top farm team, and where he played part of the 2017 season.
Now 27, Kieboom was drafted by the Nationals in 2012, and a year later suffered a major injury to his throwing elbow that required “Tommy John” surgery that’s typically endured by pitchers (examples: former Braves Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy and Jonny Venters).
His younger brother Carter Kieboom also was drafted by the Nationals in 2016, and is currently playing for the Potomoc Nationals, hitting .275 with six homeruns. That’s in Class A, an entry level professional league. He’s considered one of the top minor league prospects in all of baseball.
Another brother, Trevor Kieboom, also played at Walton and Clemson and finished at UGA. He’s 24 and is a sports agent at Vanguard Sports Group in Atlanta.
Spencer Kieboom could be in a Washington uniform when the Nationals come to play the Atlanta Braves next weekend. Wieters had hamstring surgery and is expected to be out for at least eight weeks.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
This past Saturday, the Janice Overbeck Real Estate Team and a group of local businesses joined together to host a free appreciation BBQ lunch for our armed forces at the Janice Overbeck Real Estate office.
All active duty or retired members were invited to enjoy live music by Vietnam Veterans, The Tunnel Rats, while satisfying their bellies with a full catered barbeque lunch and custom ice cream dessert bar.
The Marietta Local provided pulled pork sliders and other contributions to the lunch spread came from local sponsors: Chick-fil-A, Wells Fargo, Atlanta Peach Movers, Arrow Exterminators, Perrie & Associates and Janice Overbeck.
Although the forecast showed nothing but storms, thankfully the weather held up which allowed for a great turn out!
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The end of the school year means the end of prep sports in Georgia, and several East Cobb high school teams are still in action with quite a bit at stake
The Walton girls and boys golf teams are competing Monday and Tuesday in the Georgia High School Association Class 7A state championships in Tifton, and Moultrie, respectively. The Lassiter boys also are in the hunt.
On Tuesday, the Pope baseball team will try to defend its Class 6A GHSA state title in Rome in a finals series against fellow Cobb County school Allatoona.
For the Greyhounds and Buccaneers, there’s also something else that could be riding on the outcome of their best-of-three series: the overall championship in all-sports standings for Class 6A, compiled by the Georgia Athletic Directors Association.
The competition is called the Directors’ Cup, and the awards go to schools receiving the most points in overall, boys and girls competitions.
In the current Class 6A standings, Allatoona is third with 955 points, and Pope is fourth with 940 points. The winner of the baseball title will get 100 points, and the runner-up will receive 90.
Pope’s Region 7 rival Alpharetta (1007 points) and Harrison (992) hold down first and second places, respectively. The Harrison girls and the Allatoona boys both have teams competing in the golf championships.
Pope earned the 2017 Directors’ Cup for Class 6A.
The Walton girls, led by their dominating volleyball and tennis teams that repeated as state champions, currently lead the Directors’ Cup standings in Class 7A with 669 points. But Lambert High School of Forsyth County, which downed Lassiter Saturday to win the girls Class 7A state lacrosse championship, is right behind with 601 points, and is vying for its sixth straight state title in girls golf.
Walton is 5th overall in Directors’ Cup standings in Class 7A, and Lassiter is 9th. On the boys’ side, Lassiter is 9th and Walton is 12th. The Lassiter girls are 13th.
In the 6A boys standings, Pope is 8th, and the Greyhounds’ girls are 5th.
In Class 5A, Kell finished its sports season in 11th place overall, while the boys were 15th and the girls were 9th.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Tuesday is election day in Cobb and Georgia, and in East Cobb there are several contested races at the state and local level. In this East Cobb Primary Election Guide, we’ll round up stories we’ve posted previously about those races and about who’s on the ballot and where to vote.
There is one precinct change in East Cobb that we haven’t noted before. If you’re a registered voter in the Elizabeth 03 precinct, your polling station has changed. It was at Marietta Alliance Church, but on Tuesday you’ll need to go the Piedmont Road Church of Christ (1630 Piedmont Road).
The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at all precincts; if you are in line by 7 p.m. you will be allowed to vote. Voters will be asked to choose one ballot: Democratic, Republican or non-partisan (which will not list candidates of either party).
Also something from the weekend in case you missed it: An East Cobb legislative candidate has been disqualified due to a tax issue. Kevin James is a Republican and was running against incumbent State Rep. Sharon Cooper in House District 43.
His name will still be on the ballot, but votes for him will not be counted.
Here are our previous posts, Candidates on the Issues, for those races in East Cobb in which there are contested primaries.
One race we did not post about, due to some technical site issues we were having over the weekend, is the 6th Congressional District primary, where there is a possibility of a runoff on the Democratic side.
U.S. Rep. Karen Handel is unopposed in the Republican primary, but several Democratic candidates have lined up after Jon Ossoff declined to run again after last year’s special election.
They include former CBS46 news anchor Bobby Kaple, businessman Kevin Abel, gun-control advocate Lucy McBath and former CDC policy coordinator Steven Knight Griffin, a graduate of Lassiter High School who lives in Brookhaven.
McBath initially qualified to run in State House District 37 that includes some of East Cobb but switched after the February school shootings in Parkland, Fla. Abel and Kaple both live in North Fulton.
The District includes most of East Cobb, as well as parts of North Fulton and north and central DeKalb.
Should there be a runoff, that would take place on July 24.
Georgians also will decide their party nominees for governor, lieutenant governor and other statewide offices. The Democratic ballot will include questions about gun bump stock sales, state Medicaid expansion, an independent redistricting commission and mass transit funding.
Cobb Elections said that 12,994 people took part in advance voting in person, and another 1,735 through the mail.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The six East Cobb high school graduation events will take place Tuesday through Saturday as the Cobb County School District’s 2018-19 school year comes to an end.
There will be early release times at all levels Tuesday and Wednesday, as follows:
High school, 11:30 a.m.;
Elementary school, 12:30 p.m.;
Middle school, 1:30 pm.
Five of the six East Cobb high schools will have graduation ceremonies at the Kennesaw State University Convocation Center (590 Cobb Ave., Kennesaw).
Wheeler High School will have commencement exercises on its campus (375 Holt Road), in the arena.
Here’s the schedule for the East Cobb schools:
Walton: Tuesday, May 22, 7 p.m. (KSU);
Sprayberry: Wednesday, May 23, 3:30 p.m. (KSU);
Wheeler: Wednesday, May 23, 6:30 p.m. (Wheeler Gym);
Kell: Thursday, May 24, 2:30 p.m. (KSU);
Lassiter: Saturday, May 26, 2:30 p.m. (KSU);
Pope: Saturday, May 26, 7 p.m. (KSU).
If you want to purchase a graduation DVD, you can order here from the CCSD. The cost is $30 each.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Just days before the primaries, an East Cobb legislative candidate has been disqualified by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp for owing more than $20,000 in federal taxes.
Kevin James
Kevin James is listed on the ballot in the Republican primary against longtime State Rep. Sharon Cooper in House District 43, which covers much of East Cobb. No other Republican candidates qualified.
On Friday, Kemp’s office issued the decision (here’s the full ruling). James’ name will remain on the ballot in Tuesday’s primary, but any votes cast for him (as well any cast during advance voting, which ended Friday) will not count.
The challenge was filed on March 21 by Greg Clark, who was identified only as being “qualified” to make such a challenge.
The Georgia Constitution states that anyone who is in default for taxes and hasn’t paid them back or agreed on a payment plan is ineligible to run for or hold public office.
Kemp’s office’s findings included several instances of delinquent federal and state taxes owed by James going back to 2006, including liens filed against him.
According to the ruling, last year James provided to the Secretary of State’s office a letter acknowledging he owed state taxes, and asked to have that obligation forgiven due to hardship.
The Georgia Department of Revenue declined that request, according to the ruling, and James accepted a counteroffer to pay $4,862 over 60 months, or $80.87 a month, for state taxes. He initially owed $5,825 to the state for the years 2012 and 2016.
State Rep. Sharon Cooper
James asked the Internal Revenue Service for the save forgiveness for $20,995 owed in federal taxes in seven years combined, according to the ruling, but James did not provide any information that the debt had been paid or that he had agreed to a payment plan.
Kemp’s office ruled that while James’ ineligibility was removed over state taxes, he remains ineligible “since the Internal Revenue Service has not agreed to an Offer of Compromise at this time.”
James is a self-described businessman who was making his first run for office. On his campaign website, he said his prime motivation for running was legal reform, with “RICO running rampant in our Family Law Judiciary.”
Cooper will face Democrat Luisa Wakeman, a Delta flight attendant, in the Nov. 6 general election.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Pictured left to right: Judy McNeill (Walton High School Principal), Laura Key (Walton student and LGE scholarship recipient), Linda Coyle (Business Development Officer), Vicki Aghajanian (LGE Director of Business Development and Community Relations), Scott Brooks (LGE VP of Marketing and Business Development)
Thanks to Becca Duvall at LGE Community Credit Union for the submitted photo above and the information below about Walton student Laura Key:
On Monday, May 7, 2018, LGE Community Credit Union team members, along with principal Judy McNeill, were able to surprise Walton High School senior Laura Key with the $5,000 LGE Community Service Scholarship in a classroom full of her peers. . She was also later recognized at the May 17 Cobb County School District Board Meeting.
Key, like many Cobb students, boasts a long list of academic achievements, but her genuine commitment to serving others is what stood out to LGE. Throughout her high school career, Key spent hundreds of hours identifying needs in the community and filling in the gaps, even using what she learned during her time in Walton’s International Spanish Academy to help others. To name just one example, Key assisted with the development and facilitation of a weekly Spanish class for residents of a local senior living community.
High school seniors in Cobb County submitted applications for the LGE Community Service Scholarship to their respective principals. Each of the 16 high school principals in Cobb County then hand-selected one nominee from their school. The quality of high school seniors in Cobb County made the selection process for the award competitive.
When asked about picking just one winner from Cobb County’s best students, LGE’s Vice President of Business Development and Marketing said, “Every single nomination was impressive and made our job very challenging. However, it is clear each of these students have made a deep impact on their community through dedication, hard work and servant leadership.”
The LGE Community Service Scholarship was established in 2018 specifically for CCSD. In 2017, LGE expanded its partnership with CCSD from school-level partnerships to a county-wide relationship which included contributing more than $50,000 in scholarships and programs specific to Cobb, offering financial services to all CCSD employees/families, and meeting individually with staff members on-site at all 112 Cobb County schools.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
This is part of a week-long series of posts on East Cobb News about candidates in the May 22 primaries where there are contested party races. This post includes information about those vying for Cobb Commission District 3.
There are two Republicans and two Democrats on the primary ballot. District 3 includes most of Northeast Cobb, the Town Center Mall area and a good bit of the city of Marietta. It has been redrawn since the Republican incumbent, JoAnn Birrell, was first elected in 2010.
Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell
Birrell, a former lobbyist and consultant, is seeking her third term. She is touting her record against tax hikes, greater support for public safety and advocating redevelopment of the Canton Road corridor and the creation of Mabry Park.
She voted to cut the millage rate in 2016, and said she does not support raising the property tax millage rate to help solve Cobb estimated $30 million to $55 million budget for fiscal year 2019.
Birrell has advocated for the creation of a special one-cent sales tax earmarked for the Cobb Police Department, similar to what exists for the Cobb Fire Department, with a corresponding reduction in the general fund millage rate. No state legislation for a referendum was submitted.
Her GOP opponent is Tom Cheek, an account manager for a software firm that services the restaurant industry. He recently moved into the district from West Cobb and was a vocal critic of former Cobb commission Chairman Tim Lee regarding his handling of the Atlanta Braves stadium deal.
Cheek has campaigned on reforming SPLOST, reducing county spending and curbing development that doesn’t conform to the land use plan.
He’s also fought the county on reforming the Cobb Medical Examiner’s Office and filed suit against Cobb in 2016, claiming a pedestrian bridge to SunTrust Park was improperly earmarked with 2016 SPLOST funds.
His SPLOST proposal calls for having a referendum to remove what he calls “infeasible” projects on the 2016 SPLOST.
Cheek also opposes TODs, or “transit-oriented developments” along Highway 41 and is skeptical of a state law passed this year creating a new metro Atlanta transit authority.
Caroline Holko
At a recent candidates forum, he also said he wants to see more detailed figures about how big the county budget gap really is.
Home-schooling mother Caroline Holko is running as a Democrat, and she admits to having liberal views in what’s regarded as a conservative district.
She supports greater transit options for Cobb citizens and is not opposed to raising the millage rate in paying for services such as libraries and senior services, saying raising the millage rate by 1 mill would cost the owner of a $250,000 home an extra $100 a year.
At a candidates forum this month, she said “I don’t really support any significant budget cuts.” Holko also has asked for an audit of the Cobb Tax Assessors office. She has said her support for a property tax increase is predicated on “realistic property assessments.”
Jim Smith
Retired Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority manager Jim Smith, who has been involved with the Canton Road Neighors civic group, is the other Democrat, and like Holko he is a first-time candidate.
In the campaign he has been vocal about paying county employees better. “We’re trying to do more with less,” he said at a campaign forum this month. “We’re not giving people a living wage and benefits to keep them here.”
Smith has been critical of Birrell’s and Cheek’s opposition to raising taxes, and on his Facebook page has detailed delays in road repairs as an example of lagging county services due to tight spending.
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 may be dancing around some raindrops all weekend, but the dancing—as well as eating and shopping and so much more—will go on rain or shine at the Marietta Greek Festival. It leads off a festive slate of East Cobb Weekend Events, as another school year comes to a close and summer activities will be coming soon.
The 28th annual Marietta Greek Festival is a three-day extravaganza of food, shopping, fun and a celebration of Greek culture, kicking off at 3 on Friday and lasting until sundown on Sunday at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Catholic Church (3431 Trickum Road).
A $5 admission ticket is charged for adults, while kids 12 and under get in for free. If you can’t park onsite, a free shuttle will be provided at the following locations, and parking is also free:
Simpson Middle School – 3340 Trickum Road;
Church of Latter-Day Saints – 3195 Trickum Road;
Lassiter High School – 2601 Shallowford Road.
The hours are from 3-11 Friday, 10-11 on Saturday and 11-6 on Sunday.
There’s a main food tent, a selection of street food options, desserts and beverages, all representing the rich culinary range of Greece.
The entertainment schedule covers the span of the festival, and there are vendors, cooking demonstrations, children’s activities and church tours.
Proceeds from the festival benefit Northwest Atlanta Metro Habitat, The Greek Orthodox Ladies Philoptochos Society, Inc., a Greek Orthodox women’s ministry that works with other Christian philanthrophies.
Friday and Saturday are the last curtain calls for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” a comedy musical revue that starts at 8 both nights at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road). It’s the last presentation for CenterStage North until August, when “On Golden Pond” will be featured;
If cooking at home, and making throw-back dishes is more to your taste, a new spring-and-summer series gets underway Saturday at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
It’s called Retro Recipes, and from 12-1 Saturday, you’re invited to bring an old family appetizer recipe as participants make and share dishes. The series runs through August;
Stick around at Sewell Mill for its monthly Local Lens feature from 4-5. This month’s film professional is Ashley Nichole Smith Carlson, an Atlanta filmmaker who will share her thoughts about her favorite films, and cinematic storytelling.
As the weekend winds down, and the last couple days of school approach, local musicians will be taking the stage Sunday at the Lassiter Concert Hall (2601 Shallowford Road). It’s the Cobb Wind Symphony Young Person’s Concert, and pre-concert kids’ activities start at 2, with face-painting, an instrument petting zoo and other activities. The music starts at 3. Admission is free, but donations are accepted.
Did we miss anything? Do you have a calendar listing to share with the community? Send is to us, and we’ll post it! E-mail your information to: calendar@eastcobbnews.com. Check out our full Events Calendar, for the weekend and beyond, for more things to do.
Whatever you’re doing this weekend, enjoy!
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Longtime Walton High School principal Judy McNeill is retiring.
Walton Principal Judy McNeill
In making several principal-level appointments Thursday evening, the Cobb Board of Education accepted her retirement, effective Aug. 1, the first day of the 2018-19 school year.
Her successor was not immediately named. McNeill’s name was not included on a list of more than 200 retiring Cobb County School District employees who were honored at a luncheon last week.
In what turned out to be her last year at Walton, McNeill oversaw the move to a new campus building and had to handle gun-control protests that included a walkout in February.
The Cobb district did not endorse the walkouts, and permitted principals to determine how their schools might honor victims of a Florida school shooting that sparked the planned demonstration.
In an interview with East Cobb News, McNeill said students had organized a memorial observation before classes that day, and discouraged students from following through with a walkout.
After some student protest leaders announced they had more than 2,000 signatures to walk out, only around 200 or so Walton students participated.
School board member Scott Sweeney, who represents the Walton attendance zone, said at the end of Thursday’s meeting that McNeill was “an absolute joy to work with. . . . We wish her the very best in her retirement.”
The school board also appointed David Nelson, principal at Daniell Middle School, as the new principal at Pine Mountain Middle School, and Faith Harmeyer, an assistant principal at Mt. Bethel Elementary School, as the new principal of Nicholson Elementary School.
Those appointments are effective June 1.
The school board formally adopted a fiscal year 2019 budget of $1.2 billion Thursday that includes a 1.1-percent raise for all district employees, a 1.1-percent bonus for many employees and STEP increases for eligible employees.
The budget, which goes into effect July 1, does not include a millage rate increase. Connie Jackson of the Cobb County Association of Educators had asked the school board to raise the millage rate from 18.9 mills to the limit of 20 mills for higher increases.
But Sweeney and David Chastain, who represents Post 4 in Northeast Cobb, opposed raising the millage rate any higher.
The vote was 6-1, with school board member David Morgan of South Cobb opposing. During a work session on Thursday afternoon, he pleaded for a raise in the millage rate, showing charts illustrating how Cobb’s starting teacher salary average of $42,364 is 9th out of 12 districts in metro Atlanta.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Shortly after 7 p.m., Marietta Police issued this update:
Two Public Safety Ambassadors observed Angelo walking on Cobb Pkwy near EMC Parkway – nearly four miles from his home. Angelo is being returned to his foster family now!
ORIGINAL STORY POSTED, 6:33 P.M.:
Back in March, a young man with autism living in the Sandy Plains Road and Scufflegrit Road area went missing, and he was discovered with a police request for the public’s help.
Angelo Michael Messineo
The same young man went missing again on Thursday, and Marietta Police want your assistance if you’ve seen him or know where he may be.
Angelo Messineo, 21, wandered away from his foster home at 1521 Evanston Court around 5 p.m. Thursday, according to Marietta Police.
They say he was last seen wearing a blue sweater with a white undershirt and brown khaki pants.
Police also said Messineo starts clapping his hands loudly when he becomes upset, does not remember numbers and may not know how to get back home.
The area around the foster home is being searched by police and fire crews, and police said anyone should call 911 with information on Messineo’s whereabouts.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The day after the Cobb Development Authority approved issuing $35 million in bonds for a tax abatement for a portion of a new East Cobb commercial project, developers’ representatives explained the situation to the Cobb Board of Education.
The school board is typically briefed on tax breaks heard by the authority, due to their impact on school tax revenue.
The developers of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill, a mixed-use retail and residential development on the site of the present Brumby Elementary School, were seeking a break for the portion of the project that is to include a Kroger superstore.
Brian Fratesi, a vice president for Connolly Investments and Development, which is building the project, said during a school board work session Thursday that MarketPlace Terrell Mill is “a gateway to East Cobb.”
The abatement would cover only the Kroger portion of the $120 million project, which was approved in February in a zoning case by the Cobb Board of Commissioners. The 23.9 acres at the northwest corner of Terrell Mill Road and Powers Ferry Road includes aging commercial, shops, restaurants and office space.
Brumby is relocating to a new campus on Terrell Mill Road in August, and its sale prompted the MarketPlace project, seen as a linchpin of redevelopment in the Powers Ferry corridor.
Fratesi said the Cobb County School District currently gets around $34,000 in annual tax revenues from existing commercial activities on that site.
By the time the tax abatement period ends, 11 years after it begins, he estimated the school district would receive more than $500,000 a year in tax revenues from MarketPlace complex.
The Kroger store would be exempt from taxes its first year of operation, then would gradually pay an assessed tax value phased in over a 10-year period, in rising increments of 10 percent each year.
Fatesi said the Kroger is slated to be in the second phase of the project, with the first phase calling for the construction of restaurant and retail space, a self-storage unit and a nearly 400-unit luxury apartment complex.
When asked about the rental units’ impact on school enrollment, Fatesi said it would be minimal, since they’re expensive, one- and two-bedroom apartments being marketed primarily to Millennials and downsizers.
The MDJ reported that two members of the Development Authority voted against the bonds, including Karen Hallacy of East Cobb, concerned about a precedent being set by retailers for getting tax abatements.
But two East Cobb board members were ecstatic. Scott Sweeney, whose Post 6 includes the Powers Ferry area, said the MarketPlace proejct “will help our tax digest in the long run.”
He said that the per-student share coming from commercial tax revenue in Marietta City Schools is higher than Cobb’s, at around $1,400 a year, because of what that city derives from its commercial digest.
“I do like the project,” said board member David Banks of Post 5 in Northeast Cobb. “It’s good and I think the whole county will benefit.”
Fatesi said the first phase of MarketPlace could break ground by August or September, with completion expected 18-24 months after that. The Kroger would be completed in another 18 to 24 months, he said.
The board also heard outlines of another proposed tax abatement for a manufacturing company that is looking to expand its operations to near SunTrust Park and The Battery.
A research and development facility would bring more than 800 high-paying jobs in what’s being dubbed “Project Dashboard.” The company, which is seeking more than $260 million in development bonds for a tax abatement, is not being identified for the moment.
Jack DiNardo, a commercial real estate relocation expert who represents the company, told board members discussions on its potential Cobb move are in “progress,” and that a decision could come “sometime this summer.”
He said a requested tax abatement would be for $21 million.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A woman federal prosecutors say was not a licensed naturopathic doctor but claimed to be was sentenced to more than six years in prison today after operating a string of holistic medical practices that included a clinic on Johnson Ferry Road.
Isabel Kesari Gervais, 61, received a 75-month sentence from a federal judge in Birmingham. She pleaded guilty last summer to wire fraud, identity theft and making false statements. As part of her sentence, she also must forfeit $108,146 in proceeds from that illegal activity, according to a release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for North Alabama.
While the charges stemmed from a case in Alabama, Gervais also ran naturopathic clinics in Arkansas, Kansas and Georgia over the last 15 years. Federal prosecutors said that in addition to defrauding patients, she also changed her identity numerous times and ran advertisements making claims for medical services she was not licensed to offer, including cancer treatment.
From 2004 and 2008, Gervais ran The Chiron Clinic at 1000 Johnson Ferry Road, across from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. According to a federal sentencing memo, Gervais, who went by the name Debrah Lynn Goodman at the time, fell behind on her rent at the East Cobb business in 2005, and in February and March of that year, “the leasing company began seriously demanding payment.”
The memo said she legally changed her name to Isabell Gervais in April 2005 and left for Alabama following a divorce.
She returned to Georgia in 2009 to open a clinic in the Cumberland area, the same year a local magazine ad carried the headline “Dr. Isabell Heals Mind, Body and Spirit in East Cobb.”
She moved to Arkansas and Kansas before relocating again to the Birmingham area in 2015. That’s where she started a clinic promising medical services to cancer patients, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office there, although she wasn’t licensed to practice medicine.
Prosecutors said received payment from a woman seeking cancer treatment, but did not provide the needed medical services. With other patients, they said she conducted a few tests and wrote out a few prescriptions, and “through her misrepresentations about licensure and qualifications, fraudulently induced patients to pay her thousands of dollars.”
Prosecutors said during her 15-year spree, Gervais changed personal names, business names, medical practices and abandoned rental properties, all in an effort “to avoid legal action and detection.”
“The word ‘doctor’ means something,” assistant U.S. attorney Erica Barnes Williamson said in the sentencing order. “Diplomas on a wall signal something. Licensure, references in publications, and referrals are important. As a society, we rely on these things to determine who to trust with our health and with our money. The court must send the message that it is not okay to simply make it all up.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Water accumulating on Johnson Ferry Road at Columns Drive at the Chattahoochee River, around 10:15 a.m. today. (Georgia 511 camera photo)
The East Cobb area is included in a special weather statement issued by the National Weather Service about the potential for hazardous roads due to heavy rain this morning.
Around two inches of rain have fallen in parts of East Cobb, and around 10 a.m. the NWS included this area, as well as North Fulton, Forsyth, North Gwinnett and outlying areas, in its advisory.
The advisory period was to last until 11 a.m. due to the stationary rain showers, but the potential for road hazards could last much of the day. More rain is expected in East Cobb as the day continues.
Here’s the information the NWS is passing along for now:
“Heavy rain may cause temporary street flooding especially in poor drainage areas.
“Some locations in the path of these storms include Atlanta, Marietta, Gainesville, Cumming, Homer, Sandy Springs, Roswell, Johns Creek, Alpharetta, Smyrna, Dunwoody, Milton, Duluth, Sugar Hill, Suwanee, Buford, Chamblee, Norcross, Doraville and Braselton.
“Motorists should slow down and be prepared for possible loss of control due to hydroplaning.”
South Cobb is included in a flash flood warning also issued this morning by the NWS, and that warning is expected to last until the middle of the afternoon.
Slow-moving showers are expected to continue through most of the rest of the day and tonight, according to the NWS. Localized flash-flooding is possible in low-lying areas, especially around creeks, rivers and streams.
More rain is in the forecast for Thursday and through Friday night, with the chance of rain dropping through the weekend.
Lower Roswell Road at Old Canton Road around 10 a.m. today (Georgia 511 photo).
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
This is part of a week-long series of posts on East Cobb News about candidates in the May 22 primaries where there are contested party races. In the East Cobb area, there are five such contested races. This post includes information about those vying for Georgia State House District 44.
There are two Republicans and one Democrat on the May 22 primary ballot. District 44 includes a major portion of Northeast Cobb (see map above) and areas around and including Town Center Mall.
State Rep. Don Parsons
Incumbent Republican State Rep. Don Parsons is running to retain the seat he has held since 1995. A long-time Bell South employee, and now a consultant in the telecommunications industry, Parsons is chairman of the House Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications Committee, and is a member of the Appropriations Committee, the Health & Human Services Committee and the Ways & Means Committee.
He has been a vocal advocate for expanding 5G wireless technology across the state, and has said on his Facebook page that if re-elected “in the 2019 Georgia General Assembly, it is imperative that we eliminate barriers put in place by many Georgia municipalities and counties.”
He also has supportedcutting personal and business income tax rates, additional funding for public K-12 education in Georgia and a proposed constitutional amendment on the November general election ballot for victims’ rights.
Parsons has not taken a formal position on transit options currently facing the Cobb Board of Commissioners following the passage of a metro-wide transit bill, HB 930, in the legislature this year. Here’s more on his campaign website.
Homer Crothers
His Republican opponent is Homer Crothers, a retired consultant in the manufacturing industry who considers himself a strong conservative. He supports full funding of the Quality Basic Education Act and reducing the state income tax.
Crothers does not have a campaign website but he does have a Facebook page outlining some of his positions, including being pro-life and espousing many other traditionally conservative views.
Crothers, who says he is running to be a “citizen legislator,” also has been active in his community association, and is current president of the Ebenezer Farms Homeowners Association.
Chinita Allen
Awaiting either Parsons or Crothers in November is Democrat Chinita Allen, a longtime school teacher in Cobb County, currently at Chalker Elementary School. She is unopposed in the primary.
According to her campaign website, her top priorities would be economic development, education, health and civil rights.
Allen advocates increased education spending for K-12. A member of the Georgia Science Teachers Association and a Georgia STEM Laureate, she said the state needs to establish more “science, STEM and career pathways.”
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!
Updating a story from a couple of weeks ago: Marietta Police say they have taken into custody a second suspect wanted for a Bells Ferry Road murder last month.
Marietta Police said their detectives and the FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force arrested Je’Marquise Wright, 17, in connection with the murder of 19-year-old Tyon Gorman.
Gorman was found lying in front of businesses at a small strip shopping center on Bells Ferry Road at Williams Drive with a gunshot wound, according to police, who said a vehicle left the area after the shooting and was heading north on Bells Ferry Road.
Police said Gorman died at WellStar Kennestone Hospital, and Mehki Hilali, 18, was arrested on May 3 and charged with murder, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and aggravated assault with intent to murder.
Police had asked for the public’s help in finding Wright, who is charged with murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault with intent to murder and street gang terrorism.
He is being held without bail, according to Cobb Sheriff’s Office records, which indicated that Wright was apprehended at 2121 Windy Hill Road, the address for an apartment complex, and booking began around 3 p.m. today.
Marietta Police said they found “multiple weapons and narcotics” in Wright’s possession when he was arrested, and that additional charges are pending.
Marietta Police said they have made all the arrests they expect to make in the case but that anyone with information should call their detectives line directly at 770-794-6990 or contact Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS if they wish to remain anonymous.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The fourth running of the Northeast Cobb Business Association 5K-9 Run is taking place on June 9, and this year the event will be raising money for the purchase and training of a service dog for a military veteran.
Frank Wigington of the NCBA said past events have raised funds for dogs for the Cobb County Police Department, the Cobb Sheriff’s Office and for an autistic child in East Cobb.
This year, the business group asked Cobb Superior Court Judge Reuben Greene to assist in finding a recipient for a service dog, and a veteran who is dealing with PTSD and other issues has been identified.
In remarks to his counterparts at the East Cobb Business Association on Tuesday, Wigington said the costs for the purchase and training have grown since the initial events raised around $15,000 each.
He said if this year’s event raises more money than what’s needed for the veteran’s dog, other proceeds will be provided to the Cobb Fire Department to purchase oxygen masks for dogs dispatched for rescue work, and possibly for iPads for special needs students in Cobb County.
“The money will be spent, but it will be spent wisely,” Wigington said.
The 5-K9 Run includes a puppy trot for children 8 and under that’s $10 in advance, and $15 on race day. The 5K run/walk is $25 in advance and $30 on race day.
Awards are presented to overall and masters winners, as well as several children’s age groups.
Anyone who is entered can bring their dog along for the event.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
A Cobb schools budget proposal of nearly $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2019 is expected to be approved on Thursday night, after the Cobb Board of Education holds its final public hearing on the budget earlier that afternoon.
That hearing begins at 1:30 p.m., followed by a board work session at 2 p.m. The board will reconvene for the business meeting at 7 p.m. All will take place at the Cobb County School District central office, 514 Glover St., in Marietta.
The proposed FY 2019 budget (details here) includes a 1.1 percent pay raise for all employees and a 1.1 percent bonus for many others, but does not include a millage rate increase.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale included the pay raise after $10.2 million in state funding was added in May following the elimination of education austerity cuts.
The school district’s fiscal year begins on July 1.
Connie Jackson, the head of the Cobb County Association of Educators, has asked for a 3.6 percent raise be given for employees, and has pressed for the additional funding to come from a property tax increase.
That millage rate of 18.9 has not changed in a decade, and Jackson has suggested raising that to the maximum 20 mills.
Also on Thursday night’s agenda is the appointment of a new principal at Nicholson Elementary School, as well as a number of recognitions. Among the East Cobb students and schools to be recognized are the Shallowford Falls Elementary School’s Reading Bowl champions, Pope High School state wrestling champion Max Druhot, East Side Elementary School robotics student Abhijeet Ghosh and the Kell High School FIRST World Championship team.
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!
Pope earned the 2017 Directors’ Cup for Class 6A.
