Cobb County government said this week that its beautification agency, Keep Cobb Beautiful, will be working with Cobb commissioners to add hazardous waste dropoff events for the public.
That’s in the wake of an event last Saturday at Jim Miller Park that prompted an “overwhelming response” and resulted in some citizens being turned away because it had reached capacity.
“Many residents told us these hazardous materials built up at their homes during the pandemic, and they were eager to drop them off so they could be disposed of responsibly,” the county said in its Cobbline Weekly e-mail newsletter.
“People arrived as early as 6 a.m. to wait in line, and even though the volunteers worked as fast as possible, the lines grew throughout the morning.”
Keep Cobb Beautiful has held hazardous waste events on an annual basis, accepting auto, household and garden products, and paint, hobby and pet products.
KCB also has separate events to accept appliances and electronics at a community recycling event, and controlled substances and medications at a medication buyback event.
The county said Keep Cobb Beautiful will be providing updates on future events.
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Mt. Bethel Church and MUST Ministries are accepting donations and seeking volunteers to help with its Summer Lunch Program.
The program aims to feed around 8,000 children in Cobb County for nine weeks during the summer.
Volunteers have begun assembling meal kits that will be distributed until the end of July. In addition to financial donations, participants can also shop for food for the program via Amazon and help deliver meals.
MUST estimates that 43,000 children in Cobb County received free or reduced-price lunches during the school year—roughly 40 percent of the school system enrollment.
Furthermore, around 24,000 children are considered transient, and another 2,700 homeless:
“We will be packing and delivering Meal Kits each Wednesday, beginning May 31, with donations accepted any day of the week. Why not make this opportunity to serve a family affair? You and your family can be part of our efforts to feed the children who experience food insecurity in Cobb County and BE the hands and feet of Jesus!”
You can find more information, including a list of needs and volunteer and donation details, by clicking here.
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On Tuesday the Cobb Board of Commissioners will vote on confirming his appointment, which was announced late Thursday afternoon by Cobb County government.
Register was both Cobb police chief and public safety director between 2017 and 2019, then resigned for what he said were family reasons.
In 2021, he was named one of the top assistants to newly elected Cobb Sheriff Craig Owens, a former Cobb police officer.
In August 2021, Register left that job after he was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp to head the GBI. Register succeeded Vic Reynolds, a former Cobb District Attorney and current Cobb Superior Court judge.
“It has been an honor to be the director of the GBI and serve under one of Georgia’s greatest governors, Brian Kemp,” Register said in the county release.
“I leave a great law enforcement agency with some of the most dedicated and competent professionals I have ever worked with. I look forward to leading the tremendous men and women who make up public safety in Cobb County and once again serve a great community.”
Register would succeed Randy Crowder, who retired at the end of 2022. Current Cobb Fire Chief Bill Johnson also has been serving as interim public safety director.
Public safety includes the county’s police, fire and emergency services, emergency management, 911 and animal services departments.
Register has had a 30-year career in public safety, including a stint as Clayton police chief. He is a past member of the Georgia Peace Officers Standard Training Council and the state Judicial Qualification Commission and served on the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Forces’ Executive Board.
“We are thrilled that he has agreed to come back and lead Public Safety in Cobb,” Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said in the Cobb government release. “We are making tremendous strides in public safety, and it will be a tremendous benefit to our citizens to have a director who has already forged relationships in the community and has a deep understanding of the opportunities we have as a county.”
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MiniCon 2023 – a day of fantasy, sci-fi, anime, fandom, and gaming – will be held 10 am to 5 pm Saturday, June 24, at Sewell Mill Library & Cultural Center, 2051 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta 30068.
The third annual free family-friendly MiniCon features activities for all ages, including crafts, panels, a photo booth, role playing game demonstrations, miniature war gaming, a board game room, costume/cosplay contests, cosplay karaoke and more. Entertainment will include live music by Phantasm, Tim Between, and Stone Soup.
“If you like anything in the realms of gaming, cosplay, anime, sci-fi, comics, or fantasy, you will find something amazing to do at MiniCon,” said Jay Morgan, Creative Studios Librarian. “We’re also going to have special guests, live music, and even a theatrical performance of Beowulf. There’s even going to be a special storytime and crafts for the younger patrons. When I say MiniCon has got it all, I mean it has got it all.”
The 2023 line-up of MiniCon panels include:
11 am: Voicing Acting
Noon: Cosplaying on a Budget
1 pm: Pokemon Trivia
2 pm: Sci-Fi & Fantasy Writer’s Workshop
3 pm: Tabletop RPG: There and Back Again
MiniCon 2023 is presented by the Sewell Mill Library and Cobb County PARKS department.
For information on MiniCon 2023, call 770-509-2711 ext. 2.
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Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid will hold a fundraiser next week at the formal launch of her re-election campaign.
The event takes place next Thursday, June 29, from 5-7 p.m. at 45 South Avenue in the city of Marietta, just below Roswell Street.
Cupid, a Democrat in her first term in the position, sent an official announcement to supporters on Thursday, and included a link for donations.
Cupid is the first woman and the first African-American to be the elected head of county government, as well as the first Democrat since Ernest Barrett in the 1980s.
She also is one of three members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners whose terms expire at the end of 2024. They include fellow Democrats Monique Sheffield of District 4 in South Cobb that Cupid represented for two terms, and the District 2 seat occupied by Jerica Richardson that is embroiled in a legal battle over reapportionment.
In her message to supporters, Cupid said Cobb has “accomplished a lot and overcome much by way of a pandemic, cityhood efforts and historic redistricting to limit all five of our commissioners from serving. Through all of this, Cobb remains a vibrant, economically strong county that continues to attract new residents, businesses, and energy.”
She noted that the county has maintained its triple AAA bond rating and has expanded partnerships to boost transit, provide housing assistance, and recover from the COVID pandemic.
“Moreover, we have increased in population and diversity with measures to strengthen policing in a way that builds trust. We are also modernizing our purchasing processes to make it easier for minority-, women-, and service-disabled veteran businesses to do business with the County.
Over the next four years, we have the opportunity to continue the important work of aligning our county with sound business practices in strategic management, sustainability, and workforce retention. We also look forward to finally letting citizens cast their vote on transit investment and expansion in 2024.”
Cupid’s first two-and-a-half years as chairwoman have come with some controversy, and the five-woman board has been divided along partisan lines on a number of issues.
Republican District 1 member Keli Gambrill has filed a lawsuit against the county over the Democrats’ vote to invoke home rule to keep Richardson in office [a hearing has been scheduled in Cobb Superior Court next month].
Gambrill and fellow GOP member JoAnn Birrell of District 3–whose East Cobb boundaries are also being contested in the legal dispute—have opposed the Democrats on the need for a county strategic plan, the length of the proposed transit tax, and some diversity issues.
At the first meeting of the year in January, they tried to protest the home rule vote by refusing to vote on routine county business, but Cupid said that violated board policy and she ordered them to leave the dais.
Cupid—who has themed her agenda around the slogan “All in Cobb,”—didn’t specify in her supporters’ message details of her priorities in a second term.
“I am positive about where we are headed; however, I recognize we still have more work to do,” she said. “I look forward to making these strides with you.”
Cupid, who defeated then-incumbent Republican chairman Mike Boyce in 2020, is the only announced candidate thus far.
In 2024, most countywide offices will be on the ballot, including District Attorney and Sheriff.
Democrats hold all but one of them in a Cobb County that until recent years was dominated by GOP office-holders. Tax Commissioner Carla Jackson is the only Republican, and in 2020 had no Democratic opposition.
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Lights were on vehicles as they pushed through waterlogged spots on Johnson Ferry Road Tuesday on the first day of summer. ECN photo.
The summer solstice was officially noted in the U.S. Eastern time zone a little before 11 Wednesday morning, but it was a rainy one locally.
A second consecutive day of steady rain showers rain fell over the community on the first day of summer, and a wet forecast is in store through the end of the week.
The summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere falls on June 21, and is the “longest” day of the year and “shortest” night of the year.
That’s when the Earth’s tilt toward the sun is at its maximum. Sunrise was at 6:27 a.m. and sunset is at 8:52 p.m., but the sun won’t be seen in East Cobb.
Nearly a half-inch of rain is expected to fall in East Cobb on Wednesday, and Thursday’s forecast calls for a 90 percent chance of rain, followed by a 70 percent on Thursday.
Temperatures are also a bit lower, with highs Wednesday and Thursday in the low 70s.
On Friday, the rain is expected to clear with the sun returning and the weather getting warmer, with highs in the low 80s.
The weekend will really feel like the summer, with sun and highs back in the mid 80s.
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Marietta Police said late Tuesday that a 13-year-old boy living in an East Cobb apartment complex is back at home.
Police said Elijah James went missing from his home in the 2600 block of Bentley Road (Stratford Ridge Apartments) Tuesday night, and according to his family, “he is believed to be an at-risk youth.”
He was last seen on foot on Delk Road, heading toward Terrell Mill Road, according to police.
The initial message went out around 10:30 Tuesday, and police followed up with another message about an hour later saying that James “has been located and safely returned to his family.”
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“COVID changed everything,” Zéba owner Sima Abbasi said. “Some for the better, some not.” ECN photos
In January, Zéba Hair Salon marked its 15th anniversary, a testament to the resilience of a small business that like many of its kind had to weather a devastating blow when it was closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Making changes along the way was nothing new for owner Sima Abbasi, who started a hair-care and makeup business started at the Merchants Festival Shopping Center in 2008.
She opened a second location at the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center in 2017 and developed a loyal staff and clientele. One of her stylists, Paige Whiffen, had come on board as a business partner, as Zéba built on being a L’Oréal Elite salon with other colorists specializing in Redken and INOA.
Then the unthinkable happened, when Gov. Brian Kemp’s emergency order kept many personal-care businesses, restaurants and other public-facing enterprises shuttered for weeks. To be declared non-essential, Abbasi, said, was a surreal experience.
Zéba partner Paige Whiffen
“We were so numb,” she said, sitting down with Whiffen in a recent interview with East Cobb News. “COVID changed everything. Some for the better, some not.”
After being closed for two months, Zéba couldn’t reopen fully due to social-distance requirements, and it wasn’t until November that they “were okay again. But we could only see so many people.”
Business at Zéba’s two salons had barely rebounded when 2021 arrived in “one of the worst” stretches of time as the pandemic continued.
“It was a lot of everything” said Whiffen, who oversees the Shallowford Falls salon.
“People weren’t coming back to work so they didn’t need a haircut as much,” she said. And there were those who were still feeling apprehensive about returning to closed indoor spaces.
“Some couldn’t wait to get back, but others weren’t so sure, Whiffen explained. “We tried to do curbside service as much as possible.”
Along the way, Zéba used the occasion to assess many aspects of the business.
“The biggest blessing was that it helped us re-establish our culture,” Whiffen said. “We needed to care care of these people [their employees].”
Along the way, a “better family dynamic” emerged, and there was the usual turnover that is standard in the hair-care industry. Zéba currently employs around 25 people at both locations.
More than anything, Whiffen said, she and Abbasi saw their employees and clients in a new way.
“It was cool to see how much you impact their lives,” Whiffen said. “We’re super fortunate that our new clients are more now that we have ever had. And the trends have completely changed.”
Among them are what Whiffen calls lived-in haircoloring that lasts longer and grows softer.
“A lot of pe0ple just want a more natural look,” she said.
She said some clients also come to get hair care less than before, but their appointments tend to last longer.
Zéba also has become dedicated to recycling many of its products, including shampoos and coloring materials, hiring a private service that does come with a cost.
“But people love it,” Abbasi said. “They care about the environment.”
The salons have several events during the year to help local charities, donating 10 percent of proceeds on a Saturday in the spring to the Atlanta Humane Society, and another Saturday in the fall to benefit MUST Ministries.
Zéba also invites women from a local homeless shelter to help themselves to shampoos and other products that are no longer for sale.
Zéba continues its emphasis on education for its staffers and especially its colorists, with the aim of helping them understand the broader dynamics of the business.
“It’s not just about doing hair,” Abbasi said. “It’s everything. It’s connecting with people.”
As her business passed a milestone, she said she attests Zéba’s staying power to “a lot of faith and hard work and persistence.
“I just want us to be better today than we were yesterday.”
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The non-denominational Marietta Campmeeting revival, which began in 1837, will mark its 185th edition starting on Friday, July 14 with an opening picnic and services, and concluding on Sunday, July 23.
The revival-style festivities include daily worship services that are free and open to the public, along with a children’s service, a watermelon cutting, an ice cream social and tentholder meetings.
Featured speakers include ministers from the East Cobb area, including East Cobb United Methodist Church, the home church of the Campmeeting.
Descendants of some of Cobb County’s oldest families—Lassiter, Gantt, Allgood, Lecroy, and Groover—still have a tentholding presence.
Campmeeting organizers said that a memorial service for two members of the King family, JerryKing and Randy King, will be held at 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 16.
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The owner of a car wash chain eyeing property near the Town Center area in Northeast Cobb has withdrawn its rezoning request.
Attorney Parks Huff submitted the request Monday on behalf of Tommy’s Express by Northgate, telling Cobb commissioners Tuesday at their monthly zoning hearing that his client had contractual and other obligations that prevented the case from going forward.
Commissioners were to have heard the request to rezone two acres at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway that includes an 1840s-era home that was the headquarters for a Union general during the Civil War.
Earlier this month, the Cobb Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend approval to convert the property from residential to neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) and low-rise office (LRO) after Huff presented a revised site plant that would have kept the McAfee House on the site.
Trevor Beemon, Cobb Landmarks’ executive director, told the Planning Commission that his organization wants to relocate the house, saying it’s not ideal to serve as a cultural center, although there is some community support for keeping it there.
Huff didn’t elaborate on why his client was backing out after the Planning Commission vote. Commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to formalize the withdrawal without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled again at any time.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she’s hopeful a new applicant can come in and pursue development of the land, which is across from Bells Ferry Elementary School and is surrounded by commercial development.
In a social media post late Monday, Cobb Landmarks said it will continue efforts started in 2019 to preserve the house:
“For those suggesting the house be used as a museum or other public use—if money wasn’t a factor, then yes. However, the estimate to restore the house for commercial/public use is about $700,000. Maintenance is estimated to be about $23,000 a year. Not to mention the list price near $1M to acquire it. It would cost $1.7M+ just to get started, and then more to operate it once it’s finished. This would be extremely challenging for anyone to pull off.”
This is the second rezoning case in recent months that involved an historic structure in East Cobb that eventually was abandoned.
Huff also was the attorney for Kenneth B. Clary, who had sought rezoning on Post Oak Tritt Road for a subdivision that drew opposition for stormwater issues.
The site near McPherson Road also contained an 1840s cabin that Cobb Landmarks has wanted to preserve. Some residents and a member of the Cobb Cemetery Preservation Committee claim area around the Power-Jackson cabin includes a small family cemetery, but Huff said he has no evidence of any burials on the site.
Huff withdrew that request last month after the Planning Commission voted to continue the case.
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The following East Cobb residential real estate sales between May 30-June 2, 2023, were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:
May 30
3906 Chapel Heights Drive, 30066 (Chapel Heights, Lassiter): $1.197 million
2551 Acacia Park Place, 30062 (Westminster, Walton): $1.675 million
3258 Winthrop Circle, 30067 (Amberley Park, Wheeler): $730,000
3276 Winthrop Circle, 30067 (Amberley Park, Wheeler): $810,000
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Gritters Library branch manager Maria Benac shows a scrapbook page of ballet classes at the Shaw Park facility in 1976. (ECN photos)
As children busily made gingerbread replicas of Gritters Library, branch manager Maria Benac was paging through scrapbooks on Saturday containing the history of the Northeast Cobb community hub that for nearly 50 years has housed much more than books.
Saturday was the final day that the Gritters building that was completed in 1973 was in service. A new 15,000-square-foot facility on the same site—and double the size of Gritters—will open in about another year.
“I cried a little bit this morning,” Benac said, explaining that they were mostly tears of joy. Reconstruction plans hit a snag last fall before Cobb commissioners approved an improvised construction contract of $9.8 million for the new facility.
Nestled under a canopy of trees at Shaw Park, Gritters Library serves a rapidly growing population of more than 62,000.
The new Gritters building also will house workforce development programs in conjunction with CobbWorks, a county government agency, and the Northeast Cobb Community Center, which is relocating from another part of Shaw Park.
Gritters patrons are being directed to the Mountain View Regional Library and library staff will be reassigned to other branches until the new library opens next year.
“It’s just been a blessing,” Benac said. “This is a dream come true.”
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The Town Center Community Improvement District announced this week that it is replacing its 45-bike fleet in its Bikeshare program.
The changes include a new design to increase durability and accessibility for all kinds of riders, including those of daily commuters, exercise routines, summer activities and more.
today announced the replacement of the bike fleet for its bikeshare program. Upgraded with a new design to increase the bikes’ longevity and accessibility for all types of riders, the bicycles are optimized to aid residents’ and visitors’ daily commutes, exercise routines, summer activities, and more.
“We are thrilled to enhance this amenity, which is proving to be a fun option for recreation, exercise, and mobility within our district,” Jennifer Hogan, director of community for the Town Center CID, said in a release. “Our bikeshare program is an investment in the health and well-being of our community.”
The bikeshare program offers 24/7 rental access to 45 bikes across six stations in the Town Center area including Founders Park, Aviation Park, Town Center at Cobb Mall, Avonlea Creekside Apartments, Bells Ferry Trailhead, and Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.
Rentals are free for the first hour with every 30 minutes following priced at $1.50. During that time, bikers are permitted to lock and unlock their chosen bike as many times as needed.
Town Center Community is Georgia’s first CID-sponsored bikeshare program. Tandem Mobility provides the operation, equipment, and maintenance for the bikes, while the rentals are managed by the Movatic smartphone app.
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When summer vacation began last month for Cobb County School District students, Wheeler High School student Luke Lee was starting to prepare for a longer break from his home school.
According to the organization, the program is “a fellowship funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Department of State, that annually provides 75 American and 75 German young professionals, between the ages of 18½–24, the opportunity to spend one year in each other’s countries, studying, interning, and living with hosts on a cultural immersion program.”
The program began in 1983 and has involved more than 26,000 students from the U.S. and Germany
The Cobb County School District said this week that Lee is one of 50 students chosen for the program from the Southeastern U.S.
“Luke is an amazing young man, and this will only enhance his high school experience,” sWheeler Principal Paul Gillihan said in a statement via the Cobb school district. “It is a fantastic opportunity for him and will help him change the world!”
In the program, Lee and the other students will live with German families as they learn the language and culture, and attend local German high schools.
CBYX is part of Cultural Vistas, founded in 1963 to promote “global understanding and collaboration among individuals and institutions.”
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The Cobb County School District announced Thursday that a new principal at Dickerson Middle School has been appointed.
He’s Bradley Blackman, who has been an assistant principal for the 7th grade at Dodgen Middle School since 2020.
The Cobb Board of Education voted 7-0 to approve his appointment and two others at the principal level or higher following an executive session Thursday afternoon.
Blackman succeeds Adam Hill, who had been at Dickerson since 2018 and who recently was named an assistant superintendent at the Cobb school district.
Blackman also was an assistant principal at Palmer Middle School and served as a school leadership intern at Simpson Middle School.
From 2003-2014, he was a teacher at Sprayberry High School.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia, a master’s degree from Kennesaw State University and an educational specialist degree at Berry College.
Blackman’s appointment at Dickerson is effective July 1.
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New York playwright and actress Ingrid Griffith will be presenting her one-woman “immersive and interactive” show about 1972 presidential candidate Shirley Chisholm Saturday night at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road).
She was dubbed “Fighting Shirley” for her tenacity on racial, gender and social issues during her political career.
She was the first black female member of Congress when she was first elected in 1968, and served until 1983.
In her presidential bid, Chisholm received votes in 14 states and finished seventh among Democratic candidates. She also was the first woman to be invited to a presidential debate.
Chisholm died at the age of 80 in 2005.
Griffith, who has been involved in numerous off-Broadway theater productions, has performed the Chisholm show in the New York area and is in the Atlanta area this weekend with another show scheduled for Decatur.
She said on her website about the showthat “I’ve been moved to write and share Shirley Chisholm’s story in the hope that more people will become aware of her contributions and appreciate how her voice resonates today.
“I’m drawn to tell stories about the immigrant experience, about being an outsider and daring to be one’s self. I’m interested in social norms and cultural barriers that keep girls and women down, and in stories that promote and celebrate girls and women’s empowerment.”
The Sewell Mill Library performance of “Unbossed and Unbowed” is free but you’re asked to sign up in advance by clicking here.
Griffith also is accepting donations for her work at this link.
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At the time, the bookselling chain said the opening would be in the summer.
We checked back recently and were told that that timeline has been pushed back to the fall.
A company spokesperson said in response to our message only that “renovations are moving along nicely, and we are targeting a mid-October opening. We will keep you posted on an opening date.”
When we went by earlier this week, we took the above photo, which is relatively unchanged in recent weeks.
Barnes and Noble is converting 15,0000 square feet of the former Bath Bed and Beyond space into a traditional-style bookstore with a cafe and featuring more local titles curated by managers.
It’s part of a concept of “smaller” stores and a gradual overhaul of the chain to offer more “differentiated” locations according to regional and local interests under CEO James Daunt, who’s done that with the Waterstones chain in his native United Kingdom.
“We’re spending real money and opening many more stores,” he told Barron’s magazine in a recent interview. “One thing we’re hoping to get measured by is bringing books to communities and providing careers for booksellers.”
“They are putting on the costume and language of a pretty neighborhood independent bookstore, but their inner mechanics are still all big-box chain corporation. They’re trying to disguise their profit-driven corporate decisions behind pretty warm-lit curtains.”
Several independent bookstores are close by in East Cobb, including Bookmiser on Roswell Road near Robinson Road East and the Book Exchange on Canton Road.
There’s a Half Price Books location on Johnson Ferry Road in the Woodlawn Commons Shopping Center.
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Karen Hallacy, an East Cobb resident who’s been active in various civic activities, has been reappointed to serve on the Development Authority of Cobb County.
The authority is a seven-member body appointed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners that approves bond requests and other incentive packages for businesses and corporations.
Hallacy, a former lobbyist for the Cobb County School District who lives in the Walton High School area, has been on the Development Authority since 2013.
She was reappointed to another term by the full Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday in a 4-0 vote, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid absent. Most recently, Hallacy had been serving as the authority’s secretary/treasurer.
Hallacy hasn’t always supported some of the more high-profile and controversial tax abatement requests that have come before the authority.
Among those she opposed was for the Kroger superstore that’s set to open later this summer at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill on Powers Ferry Road, and she cited setting a precedent for retail businesses.
Hallacy also has been a member of the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force and is a former president of the Georgia PTA.
Also on Tuesday, commissioners voted $4-0 to spend $495,292 for design work for the Johnson Ferry Road-Shallowford Road intersection project (previous ECN post here).
Kimley-Horn of Atlanta will develop the design concept for the $15 million project, most of which is coming from federal sources.
Commissioners also voted Tuesday to spend $8.132 million to purchase two vacant office buildings in an industrial park. The buildings are on 10 acres on West Oak Circle and West Oak Parkway and include 85,000 square feet. They would house official documents that are required for the Cobb County Records Services Division to retain and archive.
The records are currently held at a number of facilities around the county. Renovations are expected to cost another $1.362 million.
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