Editor’s Note: A great start to our March fundraising drive!

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Editor’s Note: A great start to our March fundraising drive!
Click here or on the links in this column to support East Cobb News today! Thank you!

Well, I don’t know what to say to this but: Wow!

When I asked readers last week to help us get to $1,500 in donations for the month of March, I couldn’t believe my eyes when I checked the totals thus far.

We’re already around a quarter of the way there, after only a few days!

Thank you to all of you who have donated in March, and especially a reader who contributed $300! That’s the biggest single donation we’ve received in this and previous requests for reader support.

I’m so touched by that gesture, but we know that not everybody can donate that much.

When I started the “1500 Club” it was with the goal of having 1,500 readers make recurring monthly donations.

I still want to reach that figure, but for the month of March, we’re simply asking for $1,500 in reader donations.

In February we surpassed the $800 mark, and I think this new goal is definitely achievable.

It’s a big goal, but this news site was founded on big dreams, and we’ve been able to do so much more than I initially envisioned.

I want to continue to grow this site and its role in our community and give it a lasting presence for many years!

If what you see here at East Cobb News is of any value to you, please click below to show your support.

We’re asking for $6 a month as a recurring monthly donation, but you can give an amount of your choosing, either monthly, annually or on a one-time basis.

Please donate today!

Your contribution powers the work of East Cobb News in serving this community like no one else—with daily stories about local government, schools, public safety, small business, transportation, the arts, community service and more—and grows an engaged audience as a result.

East Cobb News is among dozens of local independent online news sites that have emerged in recent years to offer grassroots news for their communities with an authentic local touch from publishers who are fully invested in everything that goes on there.

Unlike other corporate-0wned outlets, East Cobb News does not charge for reader access. While we’re a for-profit entity, we’re not unlike those who ask readers for their assistance in not just preserving, but strengthening local news.

Nor do we charge for our newsletter—one of the more popular ways readers keep up with East Cobb News—and we invite public comments on all our stories. We’ve got a healthy, vibrant community that comes online to discuss the top headlines of the day, and I’m proud of what’s been built up here.

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Just click the link below and thank you so much!

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East Cobb Weather Update: Warm start to Daylight Saving Time

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East Cobb Weather Update: Warm start to daylight saving time

The warm weather we’ve been having in recent weeks will continue as Daylight Saving Time rolls in on Sunday.

Set your clock ahead before going to bed Saturday night—spring forward—and enjoy daylight that extends past 7 p.m.

While the Sunday forecast itself will be cooler—with a 50-80 percent chance of rain and highs in the high 50s—the rest of the week calls for temperatures reaching into the mid 70s and plenty of sunshine.

According to the National Weather Service in Peachtree City, lows will remain in the mid 40s most nights in the coming week.

On Monday, there also will be a 50 percent chance of rain, with highs in the low 60s.

Tuesday and Wednesday will be warmer and sunnier, then cloudy skills will move in toward the end of next week and the weekend.

Daylight Saving Time will continue until Nov. 2.

For more local weather details, click here.

 

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Cobb Commission District 2 Democratic runoff ends Tuesday

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Cobb Commission District 2 Democratic runoff ends Tuesday
L-R: Erick Allen, Jaha Howard

UPDATED, Tuesday March 11, 11:20 PM:

Erick Allen has defeated Jaha Howard in the runoff and will face Republican Alicia Adams in the April 29 general election.

Allen received 1,958 votes to 1,494 for Howard (56.7 percent to 43.2 percent).

Full results here: https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/GA/Cobb/123246/web.345435/#/summary

Original Story:

Democratic voters will decide on Tuesday their party’s nominee in a special election for District 2 on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

Early voting ended Friday in the runoff between former State Rep. Erick Allen and former Cobb Board of Education member Jaha Howard, and turnout has been very light.

Only 1,469 votes were cast in early voting this week, according to Cobb Elections.

On Tuesday, voters will go to their assigned precincts to vote. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and the precincts in the East Cobb area that are in District 2 are as follows:

  • Chattahoochee 01: The Paces Foundation, 2730 Cumberland Boulevard
  • East Piedmont 01: Shady Grove Baptist Church, 1654 Bells Ferry Road
  • Elizabeth 01: Cobb EMC, 1000 EMC Parkway
  • Elizabeth 02: Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2881 Canton Road
  • Elizabeth 4: Gracelife Church, 1083 Allgood Road
  • Marietta 6A: Kenyan American Community Church, 771 Elberta Drive
  • Marietta 6B: Mt. Paran Church of God North, 1700 Allgood Road
  • Powers Ferry 01: Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, 2051 Lower Roswell Road
  • Sewell Mill 03: Immanuel Korean United Methodist Church, 945 Old Canton Road
  • Terrell Mill 01: Former Eastvalley Elementary School, 2570 Lower Roswell Road

(Please note: Not all voters in these precincts are in District 2. To check your status, visit the My Voter Page at the Georgia Secretary of State’s website.)

The runoff winner will face Republican Alicia Adams in the April 29 general election.

The special elections were ordered by a Cobb judge after May 2024 primaries were invalidated due to electoral maps that were ruled to be in violation of the Georgia Constitution.

Those maps were drawn by Allen, of Smyrna, then the chairman of the Cobb legislative delegation but never received a vote. Since leaving office, Allen has been the head of the Cobb Democratic Party.

Howard, a dentist in Vinings, served on the Cobb school board from 2019-22. He also ran unsuccessfully for the Georgia Senate and for Georgia Superintendent of Schools.

After the court rulings, Cobb Commissioners voted to vacate the District 2 seat that had been held by Democrat Jerica Richardson, who was drawn out of her East Cobb home in redistricting.

In January Richardson lost her final appeal, and the commission has been operating with four members since then.

One of them, first-term Democrat Monique Sheffield, won her primary in February in the special election in District 4 in South Cobb, and will face Republican Matthew Hardwick in the April 29 general election.

Cobb Elections estimates the special elections will cost around $1.5 million.

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Wheeler boys basketball team seeking 10th state championship

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UPDATED:

Wheeler held off Newton 61-56 Saturday for its 10th state title.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

The Wheeler boys basketball team travels to Macon for a Saturday date in the Georgia High School Association Class 6A state championship game.Wheeler High School Fall 2017 Senior Projects, Wheeler athletic hall of fame

The Wildcats (28-3) will be playing Newton at 7:30 p.m. at the Macon Coliseum, in pursuit of the school’s 10th state title and their fourth in the last six years.

A livestream of the game will be shown on Georgia Public Broadcasting at this link.

Only five other schools in Georgia history have won 10 state titles, and Wheeler’s dynasty stretches back more than 30 years.

It was in 1994 that Wheeler won its first state title, with future college star Shareef Abdur-Rahim. That was under coach Doug Lipscomb, whose tenure set off a long line of Wildcat standouts who went on to star in college and professional basketball.

Coach Larry Thompson has three titles at Wheeler under his belt, and has quickly rebuilt after the 2023 state title led by guard Isaiah Collier, now playing with the NBA’s Utah Jazz.

Senior forward Tylis Jordan, who will be attending the University of Mississippi, leads this Wheeler team, which has won 20 games in a row.

Wheeler defeated Grayson in the semifinals last weekend. The Class 6A title game almost became an all-Cobb County affair, but Newton (21-9) held off Pebblebrook in the other semifinal.

The Walton boys team reached the Class 6A quarterfinals, equalling the Raiders’ best finish in the school history. In Class 5A, the Sprayberry boys reached the second round, and in Class 4A, the Kell boys, a state champion in 2024, were eliminated in the first round.

In the GHSA’s private school classification, the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy boys reached the second round, as did The Walker School boys.

In the girls state tournament, the Lassiter reached the second round in the Class 5A tournament, and the Kell girls did the same in the Class 4A tournament. The Mt. Bethel Christian and The Walker School girls were eliminated in the first round of the private school tournament.

 

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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy requests $50M in tax-free bonds

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Proposed Mt. Bethel Christian Academy master plan delayed
Mt. Bethel Christian Academy’s master plan to accommodate new classroom buildings and relocated athletics facilities was adopted in December.

A request by Mt. Bethel Christian Academy for up to $50 million in tax-free bonds to expand its upper-school campus on Post Oak Tritt Road will be heard by the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.

According to an agenda item, Mt. Bethel is asking commissioners to adopt a resolution from the Development Authority of Cobb County “to finance the costs of, constructing, expanding, improving and/or equipping certain educational facilities for the use and operation” of the private school facility, where a high school campus has been in operation since 2014.

Private businesses and other entities seek the bonds for expansion projects, and commissioners are asked to adopt those resolutions.

But public money is not used for what are called “Lease Revenue” bonds, which lower the cost of borrowing compared to standard corporate bonds.

The agenda item (you can read it here) further states that “the proposed Bonds will not be an obligation of the County, or of the State of Georgia or of any county, municipal corporation, or political subdivision of the State of Georgia. The proposed Bonds will not be paid from taxes, but will be payable by the Issuer solely from amounts to be paid or provided by the Company.”

Mt. Bethel, which began under the auspices of the now-Mt. Bethel Church in 1998, is planning to move its middle school grades to the 33-acre site near Holly Springs Road.

It enrolls nearly 700 students at all grade levels, including around 200 in high school.  The expansion project would allow up to 625 students in grades 6-12.

The school is proposing to build a multi-story classroom building and other academic facilities and construct a new dining hall.

In December, commissioners adopted a master plan for the Post Oak Tritt property to relocate and expand some existing athletic facilities and allow a second access point to the campus.

The school separated from the church in 2021 and has rented K-8 class space at the church property on Lower Roswell Road.

But the school’s lease is up in 2028, and academy officials are also seeking a new site for the K-5 grades.

There’s not room on Post Oak Tritt Road for the entire school, which school officials envision having around 1,000 students in the future.

The development authority held a public hearing for the Mt. Bethel proposal on Jan. 24, and according to Tuesday’s agenda item, there were no speakers commenting either for or against the bond proposal.

But some nearby residents were concerned about some of the changes that were eventually incorporated into the master plan, including lighting and noise issues stemming from the athletic facilities, as well as a buffer between the school and the neighborhood.

The Board of Commissioners meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the county office building at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta. You can view the full agenda by clicking here.

You also can watch the hearing on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

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East Cobb Food Scores: Los Bravos; Ege Sushi; Kumo; more

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Los Bravos Johnson Ferry Road

The following food scores have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:

Dumpling Garden
2731 Sandy Plains Road
March 4, 2025, Score: 100, Grade: A

Ege Sushi and Japanese Cuisine
2100 Roswell Road, Suite 112
March 6, 2025, Score: 100, Grade: A

Kumo Hibachi and Sushi
2595 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 103
March 6, 2025, Score: 84, Grade: B

Los Bravos
1255 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 42
March 6, 2025, Score: 90, Grade: A

Yogli Mogli
1255 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 35
March 6, 2025, Score: 94, Grade: A

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East Cobb author publishes small-town Southern noir novel

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East Cobb author publishes small-town Southern noir novel
“Crime stories are interesting because they are about human drama,” Brandi Bradley said.

A newspaper reporting career in the small-town South provided Brandi Bradley not only with a rich vein of stories to tell but also a window to the writing life she really dreamed of having.

“I always wanted to be a novelist,” said Bradley, a 12-year resident of East Cobb, who this month will have her second work of fiction published.

But what kind of novelist she would become wasn’t clear at the outset.

She thought about writing Romance novels, but her stories “just kept getting darker and darker.”

Her biggest influences were Sue Grafton and Janet Evanovich—”I love the airport novels,” she says—but the style and real-life experiences of her journalistic work poured out as well.

“I wrote like a journalist because I was a journalist,” she said. “I still do.”

She covered courts and trials in places like Paducah, Ky., where she was the only female reporter on staff, and the stories practically wrote themselves.

“I love a good crime story,” Bradley said. “Crime stories are interesting because they are about human drama.”

In 2023, she self-published her first novel, “Mothers of the Missing Mermaid,” set in Destin, Fla.

It’s about a young woman who learns that she was kidnapped as a toddler and raised in the Gulf beach town.

Her new novel, also self-published on her own platform, Rumor Mill Press, is called “Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder,” and is set in a fictitious Kentucky town called Pleasant Springs.

If that sounds intentionally noirish, it is. Bradley describes her new novel as a noirish tale of a young entrepreneur’s death, investigated by a distracted detective who uncovers a motive that unfolds very gradually, and intensely.

As the dead man’s relationships are examined, the female investigator’s wife’s ex-boyfriend—who was the sperm donor for their baby—decides to return to Pleasant Springs.

“There’s a lot of small-town human drama,” Bradley said. “Being suspicious of new people, and asking the question: What is the fight really about?”East Cobb author publishes small-town Southern noir novel

Bradley grew up on a farm in western Tennessee, and was hooked on reading and writing at an early age, devouring the novels of true-crime author Ann Rule in high school.

There wasn’t a high culture revolving around bookstores, so public libraries filled her reading cravings.

She and her husband both worked for newspapers in Kentucky. He left the business for law school, then the family relocated to East Cobb when he became an attorney for the U.S. Treasury Department in Atlanta.

They have two sons, one a Walton High School graduate, and another who attends Dickerson Middle School.

“We just fell in love with East Cobb,” she said, mentioning the writing workshops she’s been a part of with writing groups at the East Cobb Library.

“I love working with the libraries,” she said. “They have saved me many, many times.”

Until she recently got a study room of her own at home, Bradley did a good bit of her own writing at Panera Bread at Avenue East Cobb and local coffee shops.

“I learned how to write in the margins,” she said. “I write when I can.”

Since 2020, she has been a full-time non-tenured teacher of English composition and creative writing at Kennesaw State University, and she’s on campus four days a week.

She’s set up what she calls a “write in” space for students who want to meet, talk, or just hang out. A good bit of her job is to encourage students who haven’t been given much encouragement.

“The students who are told in high school that they’re bad writers,” she said, “they realize they’re good. And I tell them that. They’re trying to validate experiences with their writing.”

She notes that during her youth, before the online world, reading and writing books were made to seem like chores.

Now she sees something of the reverse taking place.

“The digital spaces feel like school” to students today, “and the physical spaces don’t feel like school.

“I like to tell them you get to touch the thing you own.”

Bradley, who said she prefers self-publishing to have control over her own work, updates readers on her author’s website, BrandiBradley.com.

She says she’s at work on the very early stages of another novel, also set in Pleasant Springs, “but it’s not a sequel.”

“Pretty Girls Get Away With Murder” will be published on March 14.

Preorders are available on Amazon and the book also will be sold at major retailers.

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Cobb included in freeze warning through Thursday morning

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Cobb included in freeze warning through Thursday morningThe next couple nights are going to dip around freezing in the Cobb area.

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City has issued a freeze warning for Cobb and north Georgia from 9 p.m. Wednesday through 10 a.m. Thursday.

A wind advisory is in effect until 7 p.m. Wednesday, as blustery weather conditions are continuing from some overnight rain.

Wednesday’s low in the Cobb area is forecast to be at 32.

On Thursday morning, wind gusts will continue between 15-20 mph, giving way to sun and warmer temperatures later.

Thursday’s high is expected to be in the mid-50s, with lows Thursday night once again dropping to the mid 30s.

Friday and Saturday will have highs in the 60s, and there will be a 50 percent chance of rain Saturday night, with lows in the mid 40s.

Sunday’s high will be in the mid 50s, as warmer, sunnier weather moves in next week, with some highs reaching into the 70s.

For more local weather details, click here.

 

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McBath files exploratory paperwork for Ga. governor’s race

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U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, who represented a portion of East Cobb in the 6th Congressional District, announced Wednesday that she has filed paperwork to explore a run for governor of Georgia.McBath files exploratory paperwork for Ga. governor's race

McBath, a Democrat from Marietta, represents a 6th District that includes part of South Cobb, Douglas County, southwest Atlanta and part of Fayette County.

She said in a release that “Georgians deserve a Governor who understands what’s at stake—because they’ve lived it. As a mom and breast cancer survivor, I’ve seen firsthand how regular people are too often left out of the political process. I look forward to continuing this conversation with my neighbors and fellow Georgians.”

An advocate of gun-control legislation, McBath is touting her work on legislation to lower insulin costs for seniors, and helping veterans in financial trouble.

Her release Wednesday didn’t indicate specific agenda should she decide to run for governor. Exploratory paperwork is only preliminary, and allows her to raise campaign funds. It is not a formal declaration of a candidacy.

McBath is the first Democrat to declare an interest in running for governor in 2026, when current Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s term expires.

He cannot run again, and may be eyeing a run for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democrat John Ossoff.

GOP Lt. Gov. Burt Jones has raised $2 million in an anticipated run for governor.

McBath has been the subject of efforts by Georgia’s Republican legislative majority to be redrawn out of her Congressional seat.

She defeated Republican Karen Handel in 2018 on a theme of gun-control rights, then was drawn out of the 6th in 2021.

McBath moved to the Gwinnett-based 7th District and served a term there before the legislature was ordered to redraw Congressional districts for the 2022 election. That year, she won in the redrawn 6th.

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13 Hub Lane furnishings store coming to Avenue East Cobb

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13 Hub Lane furnishings store coming to Avenue East Cobb

13 Hub Lane, an upscale home furnishings and women’s clothing boutique, will be coming soon to Avenue East Cobb.

The retail center announced Wednesday that the store will be occupying the former Body and Bath Works space (4475 Roswell Road, Suite 910), between Hand and Stone Massage and LoveSac.

“13 Hub Lane provides a vast array of furniture, accessories, clothing, jewelry, and gift items,” reads a description of the store on the Avenue website. “Transforming spaces into works of art, 13 Hub Lane is your ticket to extraordinary interiors.”

The company runs two other 13 Hub Lane stores (website), in Roswell and in Panama City Beach, Fla.

The store hours at Avenue will be from 10-8 Monday-Saturday and from 12-6 on Sunday. Avenue didn’t indicate an opening date.

But 13 Hub Lane’s arrival fills one of the few remaining vacancies at Avenue. Only two spaces are up for lease, while several new restaurants will be opening soon.

Recently other home- and lifestyle retailers opened at Avenue: Boll and Branch, a bedding store, and a women’s clothing boutique, Nic+Zoe.

They include Luga, an Italian restaurant, and Giulia, a European-style cafe and patisserie, in the former Drift space, and Tenku Sushi Elevation, a Japanese-themed restaurant that will occupy one of the new “jewel box” buildings comprising the heart of Avenue’s recent redevelopment.

A spokeswoman for Luga and Giulia told East Cobb News earlier this week that tentative openings for both are planned for May.

East Cobb high schools named 2025 AP honor schools

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Lassiter High School graduation rate

All six public high schools in East Cobb were included in multiple categories by the Georgia Department of Education in its Advanced Placement Honor Schools roll call for 2025.

State School Superintendent Richard Woods said 301 schools in 104 school districts were so honored, and they “exemplify our commitment to providing students with rigorous, high-quality educational opportunities that prepare them for success beyond high school.”

The 2025 AP Honor Schools are named in eight categories based on the results of 2024 AP courses and exams.

AP exams are administered by the College Board, which also administers the SAT.

All six high schools—Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton and Wheeler—were included in the Humanities Achievement, STEM and STEM Achievement categories.

The descriptions of each category below comes from Georgia DOE; the East Cobb schools honored in that category are noted in parenthesis.

AP Access and Support Schools (Kell, Sprayberry)

Schools with at least 30% of AP exams taken by students who identified as African American and/or Hispanic (minimum of 16 students) and 30% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher. At least 25 exams must be administered.

AP schools with 25% growth in AP student participation from May 2023 to May 2024 and a minimum of 25 students testing in May 2023.

AP Humanities Schools (Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler)

Schools that administered at least five exams in each of the following AP categories: one ELA course, two social studies courses, one fine arts course, and one world language course, and a minimum of 25 total exams administered.

AP Humanities Achievement Schools (Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler)

AP Humanities schools (see above definition) with at least 50% of all AP Humanities exams earning scores of 3 or higher.

AP Schools of Distinction (Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler)

Schools with at least 20% of the total student population taking AP exams and at least 50% of all AP exams earning scores of 3 or higher.

AP STEM Schools (Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler)

Schools that administered at least 5 exams in each of four separate AP STEM courses (math, science, and computer science) and a minimum of 25 total exams administered.

AP STEM Achievement Schools (Kell, Lassiter, Pope, Sprayberry, Walton, Wheeler)

AP STEM schools (see above definition) with at least 50% of all AP STEM exams earning scores of 3 or higher.

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Cobb County government releases 2024 annual report

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Cobb County government releases 2024 annual report

Cobb County Government’s annual report is typically a compendium of positive news about how citizens’ taxpayer dollars are spent.

The county released its 2024 report last week (you can download and read it here). The highlights include such activities as the opening of the new Gritters Library, the hiring of 75 new police officers, the opening of a family advocacy center in the Cobb District Attorney’s Office and various road and transportation projects.

In the introduction, under one of the county’s proudest continuing accomplishments—the 27th consecutive year Cobb has earned a Triple A credit rating—Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid slipped in this item:

“Accepting a judicial ruling regarding district lines, after asserting home rule to follow maps of our local delegation”

That sentence came under a subhead entitled “integrity” but didn’t elaborate.

The Board of Commissioners currently is down to four members because of that matter, the “home rule” redistricting flap that led to former District 2 Commissioner Jerica Richardson’s seat being declared vacant in what turned out to be a two-year dispute.

Cobb judges ruled more than once that Richardson, Cupid and Monique Sheffield—the board’s Democratic majority from 2021-24—violated the Georgia Constitution in observing maps that were drawn by the county’s legislative delegation and not the legislature.

The controversy also prompted special elections that are currently underway to succeed Richardson, an East Cobb resident, and in District 4 in South Cobb (which Sheffield has represented), because the “home rule” maps were used in 2024 primaries.

Im January, after her term had technically expired, Richardson declared herself a “de facto” commissioner, but the Georgia Court of Appeals declined to hear her final appeal to stay in office until her successor was elected.

There’s early voting this week in a Democratic runoff for District 2, which includes several precincts in the East Cobb area.

The general election for those races will conclude on April 29.

Cobb Elections is estimating that the special elections are costing taxpayers more than $1.5 million, a number not included in the annual report.

Here’s more of what Cupid included in her introduction to the annual report:

INNOVATION

  • Opening the first Family Advocacy Center in Georgia through our District Attorney’s Office
  • Introducing microtransit through “CobbLinc Go” in South Cobb

INTELLIGENT

  • Debuting findhelp.cobbcounty.gov to list helpful services ranging from mental health to housing
  • Supporting police by launching our Community Assistance Response Team

INCLUSION

  • Releasing recommendations to improve disparity in procurement
  • Funding our first year of inclement weather shelter for those in need
  • Increasing voter participation and enhancing student voter initiatives

INVESTMENT

  • Holding the county’s first sustainability forum and obtaining a $550 million grant to improve recycling and to update vehicle charging stations
  • Opening the new, expanded Gritters Library with onsite workforce development
  • Connecting with more than 500 businesses, obtaining $640 million in business investment and awarding $50,000 in small business grants

Our successes highlight our shared power when we serve the public good. Each accomplishment helps us to be a thriving, innovative, and safe community that enhances the quality of life for the well-being of all.

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LGE Community Credit Union announces 2025 scholarship program

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Submitted information:

LGE Community Credit Union is accepting applications for its 2025 scholarship program through March 28, 2025.

The annual scholarship program helps exceptional high school seniors from our communities attend the college, university, or technical school of their dreams by providing them with a $2,500 scholarship. Scholarships will be awarded in each of the following counties: Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Fulton, Gordon, and Paulding County.

Eligibility requirements:

  • Be an LGE Community Credit Union member in good standing at time of entry; OR have a parent, grandparent, or legal guardian who is an LGE Community Credit Union member in good standing at time of entry. Membership will be verified upon receipt of entry.
  • Be a legal resident of the United States residing in the state of Georgia.
  • Be a high school senior graduating in the 2024–2025 school year from a public high school, private school, or accredited home school in Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Floyd, Fulton, Gordon, or Paulding County.
  • Be enrolling to attend as a full-time student in an accredited college, university, or technical school in the United States during the fall of the 2025-2026 academic year.

Application process:

  1. Register for an LGE Community Credit Union KOFE account and complete all required form fields.
  2. Complete and pass the “Debt for Teens” financial education course with a score of 70% or above.
  3. Answer the following questions in fewer than 400 characters:
    1. What was the most impactful lesson you learned from the financial education modules?
    2. What would winning the LGE Scholarship mean to you?

The 2025 LGE scholarship program is subject to Official Rules. Please visit //LGEccu.org/Scholarship for complete details.

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Free educational program set for Alzheimer’s caregivers

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Submitted information:ACAP to hold program in East Cobb for senior living options

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia presents unique challenges, particularly when behaviors become confusing, inappropriate, or even frightening. Family members often struggle to understand these behaviors, but in many cases, they are expressions of unmet physical, psychological, or social needs.

To help caregivers better interpret and respond to these behaviors with confidence and compassion, ACAP Cobb & Cherokee invites you to a free educational program, “Responding to Challenging Behaviors of Alzheimer’s and Other Dementias,” on Thursday, March 20, 2025, from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM at Covenant Presbyterian Church (Kapperman-Williams Hall), 2881 Canton Road, Marietta, GA.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How to recognize and interpret behavioral symptoms of dementia.
  • Strategies for responding to behaviors by addressing illness, injury, or discomfort.
  • Ways to redirect challenging behaviors and make changes to the environment.
  • Techniques to provide psychological support and meaningful social interaction.

Featured Speaker:

Angelia Brigance, MS in Counseling and BA in Psychology, is a Certified Practitioner of Human Interaction Technology, an International Speaker, and an Author on dementia. With over 30 years of experience working with older adults, Angelia is a leader in dementia care and support.

This informative and practical session will equip adult children, caregivers, and family members with the tools they need to provide compassionate care while reducing stress and frustration.

Event Details:

  • Date/Time: Thursday, March 20, 2025, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
  • Location: Covenant Presbyterian Church (Kapperman-Williams Hall), 2881 Canton Road, Marietta, GA 30066
  • Cost: Free

About ACAP Cobb & Cherokee:

ACAP Cobb & Cherokee is a chapter of ACAPcommunity.org, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting adult children caring for aging parents. The chapter hosts free monthly educational programs on the third Thursday of each month at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Marietta, GA.

For more information or to register for this program, visit www.acapcommunity.org/cobb-cherokee or contact Christian Kuswita at cobbcherokee@acapcommunity.org.

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Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance seeks Adopt-A-Mile volunteers

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Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance conducts Adopt-A-Mile cleanup

Submitted information:

The Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance (PFCA) is seeking community volunteers for its Adopt-A-Mile Fall event from 9-10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Mar. 29 along Powers Ferry Road at Terrell Mill Road. Meet up and enjoy complimentary refreshments at 8:30 a.m. at the Kroger parking lot, 1310 Powers Ferry Rd., Marietta, GA 30067.

PFCA is pleased to host this bi-annual event that allows individuals and/or groups to improve the appearance of our community, in conjunction with Keep Cobb Beautiful, and supported by Kroger.

All supplies and safety equipment will be provided. Participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult chaperone. In the event of inclement weather, an email will go out the night before to all registered participants.


Sign up: https://www.cognitoforms.com/PFCA3/PFCAsAdoptAMileDay

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Open house slated for proposed Trickum Road roundabout

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Open house slated for proposed Trickum Road roundabout
Cobb DOT photo of the Trickum Road intersection at Eula Drive.

A proposed roundabout on Trickum Road is the subject of a Cobb DOT open house on Wednesday, March 12.

The event takes place from 6-8 p.m. at Rocky Mount Elementary School (2400 Rocky Mountain Road).

DOT will provide maps and other information about the proposal, which would construct a roundabout at Trickum and Eula Drive (star on map).

According to a fact sheet on the project (you can see it here), the estimated cost will be $2.3 million and will take 24 months to complete.

According to Cobb DOT, “the public can view the conceptual roundabout layout, including its operational and safety benefits, and potential impacts within the project limits.

“County staff will also be on hand to discuss the estimated construction time and costs.  There will be no formal presentation.”

Open house slated for proposed Trickum Road roundabout

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Round Trip Brewing taking part in Cobb Ale Trail promotion

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Round Trip Brewing Co. holds grand opening at Avenue East Cobb

Submitted information:

Bubbles & Brews, a month-long celebration of Cobb County, Georgia’s craft beverage makers, is back for its sixth year to shine a spotlight on local breweries, distilleries, and wineries.

In March, craft beverage enthusiasts can explore the Cobb Ale Trail to sample unique local brews. A free ‘BrewPass,’ is available online or at participating Hop Spots, guiding visitors to each location where they can collect stamps and earn sweet prizes from Cobb Travel & Tourism. Guests can also earn extra bonus stamps on their BrewPass by attending Bubbles & Brews Events throughout the month. Prizes include custom Bubbles & Brews silipints, stickers, t-shirts, and, new this year, a deck of playing cards.

The fun doesn’t stop there! Dog-friendly locations will also have Bubbles & Chews bandanas for four-legged friends. Dog owners can snap a photo of their dog in its Bubbles & Chews swag and post it using #BubblesAndChews to enter for a chance to win a basket for their furry friends. Visitors will also have the opportunity to vote online for their favorite makers and brews.

“The craft beverage industry in Cobb continues to thrive with new locations opening every year,” said Holly Quinlan, president & CEO of Cobb Travel & Tourism. “Since launching Bubbles & Brews in 2020, we have seen these small businesses adapt, change, grow, and flourish making Cobb County a sweet spot for beverage enthusiasts. Each March, we have the opportunity to highlight these makers and recognize their role as a year-round tourism asset in our community.”

Fifteen of Cobb’s craft beverage makers are participating in the March 2025 event, including:

  • ASW Distillery (Cumberland)
  • Atlanta Hard Cider Co. & Distillery (Marietta)
  • Broken Anchor Winery (Acworth)
  • Contrast Artisan Ales (Marietta)
  • Frog Rock Brewing Company (Austell)
  • Glover Park Brewery (Marietta)
  • Horned Owl Brewing (Kennesaw)
  • Lazy Guy Distillery (Kennesaw)
  • Mandatory Fun Beer Works (Smyrna)
  • Red Top Brewhouse (Acworth)
  • Reformation Brewery (Mableton)
  • Round Trip Brewing Company (East Cobb)
  • Schoolhouse Brewing (Marietta)
  • Skint Chestnut Brewing Company (Powder Springs)
  • Viking Alchemist Meadery (Smyrna)
For more information on Bubbles & Brews, visit bubblesandbrews.com.

East Cobb residential real estate sales, Feb. 17-21, 2025

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Windsor Oaks, East Cobb real estate sales
Windsor Oaks

The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports and Cobb County property records.

They include the street address, subdivision name and sales price listed under their respective high school attendance zones:

Kell

1744 Christie Drive, 30066 (Shallowford Oaks): $385,000

Lassiter

3015 Oaktree Court, 30066 (Windsor Oaks): $875,000

2440 Jamerson Road, 30066: $740,000

3455 Oakshire Drive, 30066 (Edenton): $759,900

Pope

4325 Sprucebough Drive 30062 (Kensington): $647,000

3330 Woodleaf Way, 30062 (Chestnut Creek): $615,000

Sprayberry

730 Brickelberry Court, 30066 (Overlook at Chastain): $420,000

3781 Hickory Ridge, 30066 (North Ridge): $496,500

4016 Matty Drive, 30066 (Princeton Grove): $855,000

2500 Cottonwood Drive, 30066 (Bristol Mill): $387,500

3966 Ebenezer Road, 30066 (Philmont Estates): $283,000

Walton

2804 Jamont Court, 30068 (Bridgegate): $582,000

2992 Octavia Circle, 30062 (Vestavia Estates): $1.735 million

5163 Tall Oak Drive, 30068 (Woodland Trails): $620,000

5045 Gardenia Circle, 30068 (The Gardens at Parkaire): $392,000

Wheeler

279 Terrydale Drive, 30067 (Cayuga Forest): $369,000

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Editor’s Note: Marching forward into our March fundraiser

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Thanks again for a fantastic February!Editor's Note: Inviting our readers to join the 1500 Club!

We had a few dozen new contributors pledge their support to East Cobb News, and surpassed January’s reader donation totals.

I am very gratified for all of you who have generously given.

While we didn’t quite get to the $1,000 mark for the month (we came close!), the shortest month of the year revealed the level of support in this community for news and information you can’t get anywhere else.

I am touched by your show of support and honored to provide this community resource to you. My objective is to strive to make it better for you every day.

East Cobb News exists to serve you—the citizens, voters and taxpayers of this community—and the local businesses that advertise with us.

No corporate office somewhere else, no other journalistic establishment, nobody else or no other entity.

That’s what I’ve loved about going truly independent when I launched East Cobb News in 2017. I wanted my hometown, the place where I grew up, to have a news source all its own, one that mixed serious journalism with useful community information.

Now, as we embark on the stretch run of our eighth year, we’ve built up a very healthy audience: Nearly 70,000 unique visitors a month on average, more than 9,000 newsletter subscribers, and thousands more who find us on social media.

We do this every day, because the news doesn’t stop.

Think about that newsletter figure for a moment. Not long ago I read about how my former employer, the AJC, wants to boost its digital subscribers, which currently number around 100,000.

We’ve got a healthy fraction of that same number, just covering this slice of metro Atlanta, of a big company (that I was honored to work for for nearly two decades) serving a major metropolitan area, and with nine-figure resources to boot.

You don’t have to be big to have a big impact on your community. I recently interviewed someone for a forthcoming story who told me excitedly how both she and her husband (they’re both former journalists) love reading East Cobb News.

It’s flattering to hear that, but that’s the Power of Local, serving readers and news consumers in an authentic way.

What East Cobb News does on a shoestring by comparison comes deeply from the heart.

And that’s the value proposition I offer to you in consideration of supporting the work that we do here.

As winter (I truly hope!) is giving way to spring, I’d like to ask for the support of those of you who haven’t contributed to help us March Forward in the month of March.

We’d like to raise $1,500 in reader contributions this month, and I know we can do that. It’s a big goal, but this news site was founded on big dreams, and we’ve been able to do so much more than I initially envisioned.

I want to continue to grow this site and its role in our community and give it a lasting presence for many years!

If what you see here at East Cobb News is of any value to you, please click below to show your support.

Please donate today!

Your contribution powers the work of East Cobb News in serving this community like no one else—with daily stories about local government, schools, public safety, small business, transportation, the arts, community service and more—and grows an engaged audience as a result.

East Cobb News is among dozens of local independent online news sites that have emerged in recent years to offer grassroots news for their communities with an authentic local touch from publishers who are fully invested in everything that goes on there.

We’re also citizens, parents, homeowners, business owners and volunteers like our neighbors. It’s just not where we work, but the place we call home.

Unlike other corporate-0wned outlets, East Cobb News does not charge for reader access. While we’re a for-profit entity, we’re not unlike those who ask readers for their assistance in not just preserving, but strengthening local news.

Nor do we charge for our newsletter—one of the more popular ways readers keep up with East Cobb News—and we invite public comments on all our stories. We’ve got a healthy, vibrant community that comes online to discuss the top headlines of the day, and I’m proud of what’s been built up here.

We’d like to suggest a monthly payment of $6—you can contribute more if you like, or at whatever amount of your choosing.

Our online platform is safe, secure and easy to use, and you can manage your account however you like.

Just click the link below and thank you so much!

Become a regular supporter!

 

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Cobb Safety Village tips to follow for home fire safety

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Cobb Safety Village tips to follow for home fire safety
Residents of a Northeast Cobb home were treated for smoke injuries Monday. Cobb Fire photo

After several house fires this week—including two in East Cobb, one of which was deadly—Cobb Fire officials are urging the public to take extra precautions during some hazardous weather conditions.

Cobb and much of north and central Georgia have been under “red flag” warnings this week due to gusty winds, low humidity and warm temperatures.

That warning is in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Adding to the hazard is dry vegetation and the likelihood of fires spreading rapidly. Outdoor burning “is strongly discouraged,” the NWS Atlanta warning indicates.

Those conditions are expected to continue through the next week, with the first chance of rain in the area expected next weekend.

A woman was killed early Friday in a house fire off Powers Ferry Road, and members of another home in Northeast Cobb escaped a fire Monday that spread quickly.

Both fires took place late at night, as people were sleeping.

Though the cause of both fires is still under investigation, in the latter incident, a space heater may have provided the spark, according to Cobb Fire.

They’re telling the public to observe the following tips from the Cobb Safety Village to increase awareness and reduce the chances of being injured in a fire:

Know Two Ways Out

  • Every bedroom in your home should have at least two exits. Typically, these exits are the door and a window. Familiarize yourself with these escape routes and ensure that they are easily accessible at all times. In case of an emergency, being aware of and prepared to use these exits can be life-saving.
Close Before You Doze
  • It’s essential to sleep with your bedroom door closed. This simple action can significantly slow the spread of fire and smoke, providing you with crucial extra minutes to escape. Closing your door at night can also reduce toxic smoke levels and improve air quality, making your environment safer and giving you a better chance of survival.
Smoke Alarms: Your First Line of Defense
  • Smoke alarms are vital for early detection and warning in the event of a fire.
  • To ensure they are functioning correctlyTest Your Smoke Alarms Monthly: Press the test button to ensure they are working properly.
  • Replace Batteries Annually: Even if your alarms are hardwired, they typically have a battery backup that needs regular replacement.
  • Check Expiration Dates: Smoke alarms have a lifespan of 10 years. Check the manufacture date and replace the unit if it is older than 10 years.
By following these safety measures, you can significantly increase your chances of staying safe in the event of a fire. Remember, preparedness is key, and taking these steps can make all the difference. Stay safe and vigilant!

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