East Cobb Food Scores: La Madeleine; Righteous ‘Que; more

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La Madeleine, East Cobb food scores

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

Cafe Hot Wing
1153 Roswell Road
September 15, 2023 Score: 70, Grade: C

East Cobb Middle School
825 Terrell Mill
September 14, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

El Huarache Veloz
1157 Roswell Road
September 14, 2023 Score: 87, Grade: B

Faith Lutheran School
2111 Lower Roswell Road
September 12, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Frankie’s Italian Restaurant
3100 Roswell Road
September 14, 2023 Score: 84, Grade: B

La Madeleine
4101 Roswell Road, Suite 812
September 12, 2023 Score: 84, Grade: B

Lassiter High School
2601 Shallowford Road
September 13, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Nicholson Elementary School
1599 Shallowford Road
September 13, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Pizza Hut
1386 Roswell Road
September 14, 2023 Score: 97, Grade: A

Righteous ‘Que
1050 E. Piedmont Road, Suite 136-140
September 14, 2023 Score: 87, Grade: B

Sedalia Park Elementary School
2230 Lower Roswell Road
September 12, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Sope Creek Elementary School
3320 Paper Mill Road
September 13, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Waffle House
2805 Delk Road
September 13, 2023 Score: 89, Grade: B

Wheeler High School
375 Holt Road
September 15, 2023 Score: 91, Grade: A

Winston’s Food and Spirits
1860 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 101
September 12, 2023 Score: 86, Grade: B

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Walton HS graduate named to Stamps Scholars Program

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Walton High School graduate Chaitana Sri Yetukuri, who will attend Georgia Tech, sends along word that she’s been named a Stamps Scholar, which includes 272 students nationwide who “are passionate about using their talents to make a positive impact on their communities, locally and globally.”Walton HS graduate Stamps Presidential Scholars Program

 Yetukuri, who graduated from Walton this year and was a National Merit Scholar, plans to study Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Here’s more of what she sent to us about the Stamps program, which was founded in 2006:

“Stamps Scholars are chosen for their academic excellence, leadership experience, dedication to service, and exceptional character. The approximate value of Stamps Scholarships for the new class over their time in school is worth up to $47.5 million. 

“At most partner universities, the Stamps Scholarship covers up to the total estimated cost of attendance for four years of undergraduate study and also includes enrichment funds that Scholars can use for academic and professional development, such as study abroad, internships, and independent research. In recent years, Stamps Scholars have used their funds to simulate a space mission in Utah, explore their creative writing interests while living in an English castle, attend a medical Spanish program in Ecuador, and study international business in Spain. Stamps Scholarships are also awarded to select rising juniors at several colleges and universities, including the US Air Force Academy, the US Military Academy, the US Naval Academy, the University of Chicago, Dartmouth College, the University of Georgia, and the University of Michigan.

“Perhaps the most special benefit of the Stamps Scholarship is the opportunity for Scholars to network with an international community of peers and alumni – from regional conferences hosted by partner institutions to informal meet-ups to the biennial Stamps Scholars National Convention. In April 2023, nearly 700 Stamps Scholars gathered for the seventh Stamps Scholars National Convention at the Georgia Institute of Technology. During this event, Scholars had the opportunity to meet and connect with one another, gain awareness of important issues facing society, and engage with national leaders.

“Stamps Scholars are also among the recipients of prestigious awards including Fulbright, Gates Cambridge, Goldwater, Marshall, Rhodes, Truman, and Schwarzman Scholarships. Stamps alumni work with top companies and organizations such as Google, Goldman Sachs, and NASA and are pursuing graduate degrees at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and the University of Cambridge.”

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Cobb superintendent critics to hold ‘Replace Ragsdale’ rally

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Replace Ragsdale rally
Cobb school superintendent Chris Ragsdale at a teacher of the year event at Lassiter High School in August. ECN photo

A group of citizens who are regularly critical of Cobb County School District Chris Ragsdale have scheduled a rally Thursday to call for his ouster.

The “Replace Ragsdale” rally will start at 3:30 Thursday at the Cobb school district’s headquarters (514 Glover St., Marietta), as the Cobb Board of Education is holding its September meetings.

A work session starts at 2 p.m., followed by an executive session and a 7 p.m. voting meeting.

Ragsdale has come under fire by some critics for terminating a Due West Elementary School teacher after she read a book about gender identity to her students, and after the Cobb school district pulled two books from 20 middle- and high school shelves that were deemed sexually explicit and in violation of a new state “divisive concepts” in education law.”

It’s the latest in a long line of complaints that a group of parents and educators have been making about Ragsdale in recent years. Some of them have publicly expressed their concerns at public comment periods at school board meetings, but they have said they rarely get a response.

The Cobb school board has a 4-3 Republican majority, with those GOP members routinely backing Ragsdale. In late 2021, the Republicans voted to revise Ragsdale’s contract as the district was undergoing a special review by its accrediting agency.

The organizers of Thursday’s rally call themselves the Cobb Community Care Coalition and include Micheal Garza, an East Cobb resident who ran as a Democrat for the Georgia legislature in 2020 and Jennifer Susko, a former Mableton Elementary School counselor who resigned in protest when the Cobb school board banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory in 2021.

“Chris Ragsdale’s decision making is the reason for everything occurring in Cobb Schools that has been embarrassing us in the national news over the last several years,” said the rally organizers. “We are showing up as a community to resist and demonstrate that we will not remain silent while he and his leadership staff abuse their power.”

The group says that Ragsdale is responsible for “firing and disparaging teachers,” removing books against the district’s policy, “creating a hostile work environment where educators fear for their jobs,” “fostering school climates that are harmful to LGBTQ+ and Black and brown students, families and educators,” “banning programming that helps protect marginalized students and prevent identity based bullying” and “disrespecting a teacher who died of COVID.”

The Cobb Republican Party is urging its members to attend to thank and show support for Ragsdale.

Party chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs said that “we need to have 50-60 people on our side” for the 7 p.m. meeting, which “is the one the left will show up to.”

Susko, who was a temporary special assistant to Democratic Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, responded that the Cobb MOB has seen our efforts and responded frantically and irrationally as usual. Thank him for WHAT exactly? .  .  . Salleigh, you CAN HAVE CHRIS RAGSDALE! He wants to work for the GOP anyway. Take him.”

The work session agenda includes a discussion of recent Georgia Milestones test scores in Cobb and metro Atlanta school districts, while the evening meeting will include a request to purchase 38 new school buses and recognition of state champion athletes, include track and field and tennis participants at Walton High School.

Agendas for both meetings can be found by clicking here.

The school board’s public meetings Thursday will be live-streamed on the Cobb County School District’s BoxCast channel and on CobbEdTV, Comcast Channel 24.

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Marietta to hold public hearings on proposed city ward map

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Proposed Marietta ward map public hearing
To see a larger version, click here.

Since a sliver of our coverage area includes easternmost portions of the City of Marietta, here’s a public notice about upcoming hearings on new city council and school board boundaries, with the first coming on Wednesday:

“The City of Marietta has proposed a new ward political boundary map that will determine which ward the citizens of Marietta will cast their vote in future elections. The proposed map is titled “Proposed Wards School and Parks Draft Option 2”. All concerned citizens are invited to attend the two public hearings on this redistricting map which will be held at Marietta City Hall, 205 Lawrence Street in the Council Chamber on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, at 7:00 P.M. and Wednesday, October 11, 2023, at 7:00 P.M. According to Federal law, the City of Marietta is required to redraw the ward boundaries to accommodate for the shifting change in population every ten years as determined by the U.S. Decennial Census.”

Those two hearings will take place during regularly scheduled city council meetings.

A couple of notes: We’ve been reporting on redistricting feuds over Cobb county commission and school board seats. The former involves a home rule claim over maps reapportioned by the county, and the latter is in federal court over voting-rights issues.

In Georgia, municipalities draw their own electoral maps after a new Census is released. A special committee of city council and school board members has been meeting to propose the map boundaries (see larger version of above map here).

Below is the current map (larger version).

As of July 2022 (Census overview here), Marietta has an estimated population of around 62,000, with each of the seven wards on the city council and school board including around 8,700 people.

The eastern part of the city includes all of wards 6 and 7 and a portion of ward 3.

Marietta’s next elections are scheduled for 2025. All of Cobb’s other six cities, including newly incorporated Mableton, will have non-partisan city council elections on Nov. 7.

Marietta City ward map 2013

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Prominent quilting artist to address East Cobb Quilters’ Guild

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Submitted information:East Cobb Quilters' Guild

International quilt artist, fabric designer, author, and color expert, Anna Maria Horner will appear at the East Cobb Quilters’ Guild evening meeting on September 28th and their daytime monthly meeting on September 29th.  During the day meeting, Anna Maria’s presentation on Blueprint Quilting will go in depth about her unique composition styles and her adventurous variations on those themes. She will illustrate her creative process as a fine artist, fabric designer, and quilter. Many of the quilts in her lecture will show off the inspiring stories, processes, and tools that she uses to create her quilts. The lecture is a wonderful opportunity to learn about the creative process and bring home some of the inspiration for your next project, whatever the medium might be.

During the evening meeting on September 28th, Anna Maria will host a Meet & Greet allowing attendees the opportunity to talk to her about herself and her inspirations in a small group setting. Additionally, at both meetings, there will be many quilts on display, and Anna Maria & co pop up store! featuring a curated selection of her current fabric bundles, quilt kits, patterns and templates.  

To learn more about Anna Maria, please visit her website: www.annamariahorner.com and follow her on Facebook

The Guild holds both their evening meetings beginning at 6:30 PM and their day meetings beginning at 10:00 AM at the Catholic Church of St. Ann located at 4905 Roswell Rd, Marietta, GA 30062. These meetings are always free to members. Guest tickets are $10 and can be purchases tickets online for the evening meeting at https://ecqg.com/event/anna-maria-horner-evening-meet-greet/#tribe-tickets__tickets-form   The day meeting tickets are available at https://ecqg.com/event/anna-maria-horner-day-lecture/#tribe-tickets__tickets-form

 

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Cobb commissioners approve funding to finish police Precinct 6

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Cobb Police Precinct 6

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved spending $2.2 million to finish interior work on the new Cobb Police Precinct 6 in Northeast Cobb.

The facility located next to the Mountain View Aquatic Center on Gordy Parkway at Sandy Plains Road was budgeted for $5 million as part of the 2016 Cobb SPLOST (Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax).

Ground was broken in late 2021, but rising construction costs pushed the project well over budget, to $7.7 million, and commissioners approved an additional $400,000 last year.

But the Cobb Department of Public Safety said the building is only 60 percent complete, with interior build-out still to be finished, and the work needs to be done now to avoid funding issues.

Public safety director Mike Register, a former Cobb police chief, said $200,000 of the new funding from the county’s general fund reserve would be for contingency costs for Batson-Cook, the contractor.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of District thanked Register, who was recently reappointed to his former role and who took she and her colleagues on a tour of a project she has been pushing for for years.

The vote was 4-0, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid absent.

“This is a long time coming,” she said, noting the funding is the last of her allotment from the 2016 SPLOST. “Thank you for bringing this home as soon as you got here. You hit the ground running with this. I appreciate you championing this.”

Construction is expected to be complete by next spring, with initial staffing to be for administrative staff.

Register said a typical schedule for the precinct would be from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. as the police department works to fill a high number of vacancies, especially for patrol officers.

Precinct 6 isn’t initially being staffed for patrol staff. Most of the East Cobb area is covered by patrol units from Precinct 4, based on Lower Roswell Road, and stretching from Canton Road to the Powers Ferry Road corridor.

“It’s going to immediately impact the citizens and give them value,” he said.

Register said citizens could typically get daytime services including copies of police incident reports and for other law enforcement services.

“As our vacancies begin to dissipate, we’ll begin to slowly staff the precinct with about half the beats, as we bring it up to a fully staffed precinct,” he said.

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East Cobb Biz Scene: Elegance Events holds ribbon-cutting

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Elegance Events Ribbon Cutting

The former Zaxby’s restaurant across from the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center has been transformed into special event space.

Last week Nazanin Moradimehr (with scissors), owner of Elegance Events (2080 Lower Roswell Road) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

A Wheeler High School graduate, she has more than two decades in the restaurant and catering industry, and opened Elegance Events in June with a grand opening.

Elegance Events, located in the Newmarket Shopping Center, caters mostly to weddings, but also is available for baby showers, birthdays, anniversaries, bar/bat mitzvahs and corporate events.

The facility ideally holds 120 guests but can expand to 200 and includes outdoor space. Inside, features include gold-draped tables, a large bar and a wall-to-wall projection screen.

Services include customized music, table settings and floral arrangements, balloon arches, sculptures, photography, disc jockeys, lighting and audio and event set-up.

Catering items featuring Mediterranean, Persian, Moroccan and other international cuisines in a fully-stocked kitchen.

Moradimehr was an exhibitor at the recent Georgia Bridal Show at the Cobb Galleria Centre and the Atlanta Wedding Extravaganza, and has organized special events at other locations.

For information and to schedule a tour call 813-817-4659 or e-mail info@eleganceeventsatl.com.

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Botanical Sciences medical cannabis dispensary opens in Cobb

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Botanical Sciences opens Cobb medical cannabis dispensary

Botanical Sciences, a physician-owned medical cannabis provider, held a grand opening event this week at its new Cobb location at 2468 Windy Hill Road. 

The company grows, manufactures and dispenses medical cannabis and has plans to operate five dispensaries in metro Atlanta and Georgia. 

The Cobb dispensary is open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. for patients using medical cannabis for a variety of health issues, ranging from autism and cancer to Parkinson’s Disease and Tourette’s Syndrome.

It’s the second such medical cannabis dispensary in Cobb, opening not long after Trulieve’s Marietta Medical Dispensary on Cobb Parkway near Whitewater.

Botanical Services (website here), which was founded in 2020, sells a variety of tinctures, capsules and topicals for home use by patients approved to use medical cannabis.

For more information, visit the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission.

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East Cobb residential real estate sales, Aug. 21-25, 2023

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Falkirke Pointe, East Cobb real estate sales
Falkirke Pointe

The following East Cobb residential real estate sales were compiled from agency reports. They include the subdivision name and high school attendance zone in parenthesis:

Aug. 21

222 Lucky Drive, 30067 (Brooks, Wheeler): $399,900

22 Brookcrest Drive, 30068 (Millbrook Farm, Wheeler): $655,000

2742 Georgian Terrace, 30068 (East Valley Estates, Wheeler): $515,000

2057 Stanrich Court, 30062 (Folkstone, Pope): $685,000

4593 Cedar Knoll Drive, 30066 (Quail Hollow, Kell): $449,900

5291 Rebel Road, 30068 (Chattahoochee Heights, Walton):$625,000

Aug. 22

2861 Harold Dean Drive, 30066 (Channon, Sprayberry): $369,000

4228 Cove Way, 30067 (Kings Cove, Walton): $649,800

1862 King Arthurs Court, 30062 (Beaver Brook Farms, Sprayberry): $340,000

4480 Silversmith Court, 30062 (Chimney Springs, Pope): $575,000

2811 Fernvalley Road, 30066 (Piedmont Hills, Sprayberry): $440,000

3440 Dry Creek Road, 30062 (Hickory Bluff, Pope): $414,500

1979 North Woods Drive, 30066 (North Woods, Kell): $310,000

5412 Tally Green Drive, 30068 (Tally Green, Walton): $712,500

2130 Heritage Trace Drive, 30068 (Heritage Trace, Walton): $470,000

Aug. 23

23 Vintage Club Drive, 30066 (Vintage Club Condos, Sprayberry): $415,000

51 Lathhouse Lane, 30066 (The Gardens at Laura Creek, Sprayberry): $495,000

Aug. 24

1624 Woodfall Court, 30068 (Hunters Trace, Walton): $780,000

2292 Snug Harbor, 30066 (St. Charles Place, Sprayberry): $596,000

2960 Prince Howard Drive, 30062 (Corinth, Pope): $587,500

1108 Research Drive, 30066 (Ramblewood, Sprayberry): $395,000

2262 Seatton Court, 30062 (Harper Woods, Sprayberry): $545,000

Aug. 25

4261 Biltmore Place, 30062 (Biltmore, Walton): $1.775 million

2255 Falkirk Pointe Drive, 30062 (Falkirk Pointe, Pope): $1.3 million

2730 Macby Avenue, 30066 (Sandy Mill, Sprayberry): $335,000

2843 Missy Drive, 30062 (Chestnut Ridge, Pope): $605,000

3115 Susan Court, 30066 (Russell Plantation, Sprayberry): $400,000

3871 Manor House Drive, 30062 (Bradford, Pope): $592,500

4281 Meadow Way, 30066 (North Wind Meadows, Kell): 4407,000

2227 Lasalle Drive, 30062 (East Hampton, Walton): $960,000

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Editor’s Note: A welcome return for East Cobb’s parade

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East Cobb's parade returns
Wheeler High School cheerleaders marched with the band at the 25th EAST COBBER parade Saturday. ECN photos, video

While most major community activities have returned to normal in the wake of COVID-19, there has been one major event whose absence has been notable.

The year 2020 was to have been the 25th anniversary of the EAST COBBER parade and magazine, but was cancelled due to the pandemic. The event was delayed again in 2021, with public health guidance still uncertain.

The logistics of pulling off such a large, comprehensive community event are daunting enough. But last spring, when I spoke to founder and then-publisher Cynthia Rozzo, she was optimistic about a return.

However, she sold the magazine to Laren Brown, her advertising manager, not long after that, in the summer of 2022, and there just wasn’t time to take over the helm of the publication and pull together its signature event.

So the parade and festival would have to wait until 2023.

On Saturday morning under pleasant skies, Johnson Ferry Road was closed off for the silver anniversary of the parade, and a familiar vibe returned with it.

More than 50 community organizations and businesses made the mile march from Mt. Bethel Elementary School to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, where a festival took place with a similar number of exhibitors.

Those numbers aren’t what they were before the pandemic, but the friendliness was hard to miss. Kids enjoyed bouncy houses and snow cones, spectators brought their dogs and small businesses and non-profits laid out their wares and information.

Brown came to our table with a swag bag and said her first shot at organizing the event was quite an undertaking. She had assisted Rozzo, who was on the scene Saturday to lend a hand for which her successor was grateful.

Recreating a small-town flavor of an old-fashioned community parade was what Rozzo wanted to provide to a Sunbelt suburb where people come from all over.

After four years of waiting, they got to enjoy that atmosphere again, and our community really feels like it’s got its groove back.

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$2.2M in new funding sought to finish Cobb Police Precinct 6

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Cobb Police Precinct 6

Cobb public safety officials will ask commissioners on Tuesday for $2.2 million in reserve funding to complete the construction of a new police precinct in Northeast Cobb that’s been delayed by funding issues.

According to an agenda item, (you can read it here), the additional funding is needed to build out offices and other internal facilities for the long-delayed building, which is located next to the Mountain View Aquatic Center on Gordy Parkway at Sandy Plains Road.

An estimated $5.5 million has been spent thus far on the precinct, which was approved by Cobb voters in the 2016 Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) with a budget of $5 million.

Last June, commissioners approved a “maximum guaranteed price” of $5.4 million with Batson-Cook the contractor, as construction costs have been soaring since supply chain issues were prompted by COVID-19 closures.

Tuesday’s agenda item said that the additional funding from last year also has been depleted. The remaining work includes completing office space for command and administrative staff, holding cells, evidence rooms, workout rooms and “additional staff restrooms,” the agenda item states.

“Completing the project now will decrease construction costs and maintain the health of the existing structure,” the agenda item states. “An implementation plan for staffing is being developed by the Police Department to be executed upon completion of the project.”

The total estimated cost for the precinct is now $7.736 million.

Initial plans were for Cobb Police to house several specialized units at Precinct 6 but not have a patrol zone. Most of the East Cobb area is covered by patrol units from Precinct 4, based on Lower Roswell Road, and stretching from Canton Road to the Powers Ferry Road corridor.

The commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

The full agenda can be found by clicking here.

It also will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.

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CenterStage North, Cobb PARKS reach Sunday events agreement

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CenterStage North, Cobb PARKS agreement

Following up our story last week about the possibility that CenterStage North might halt its 2024 season at The Art Place-Mountain View due to Sunday staffing issues with Cobb PARKS:

Jonathan Liles, CSN’s managing director, told East Cobb News Friday that the community theater organization and the county have come to an agreement to continue Sunday staffing by employees of The Art Place.

He said he met with Cobb PARKS staff Friday and said that CenterStage North Sunday shows and Sunday musical recitals will continue into 2024.

“We discussed the potential of future partnerships and how it could benefit The Art Place,” Liles said without elaborating.

The county told CenterStage North last month that starting next year The Art Place would be closed to all Sunday activities due to staffing issues at the county-run facility on Sandy Plains Road, located in a complex with the Tim D. Lee Senior Center and the Mountain View Regional Library.

Liles said CenterStage North had been getting inquiries from patrons about the 2024 season. He previously told East Cobb News the all-volunteer non-profit couldn’t exist financially without ticket sales from Sunday matinee performances, and there was no other place to go.

“Without the Sunday revenue, I cannot afford to stay open,” he said.

The Art Place also offers art classes and holds special arts exhibits and receptions. Earlier this year, Sunday musical recitals there were discontinued due to the staffing issues.

East Cobb News has left a message with the county seeking more information.

CenterStage North will soon proceed with planning its 2024 season, which includes four to five performances a year, including a special Christmas event.

“We’d like to thank The Art Place Staff, Cobb Parks and Rec Assistant Director Mario Henson, and Marie Jernigan, the Cultural Affairs Director, for their support and partnership,” Liles said.

The 2024 season is as follows, with ticket sales starting in October:

  • The 39 Steps – Feb 2024
  • Drinking Habits – May 2024
  • Maytag Virgin – August 2024
  • Little Shop of Horrors (Musical, rights pending) – October 2024

 

Richardson to hold kickoff event for Congressional campaign

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Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson has launched a website and filed initial paperwork to run for the 6th District Congressional seat that includes some of East Cobb.Richardson Congressional campaign kickoff event

The first-term Democrat, whose tenure on the board is the subject of an ongoing legal dispute over redistricting, is holding a kickoff event for her Congressional bid next week.

On Thursday she announced on her campaign’s social media outlets to “join us for our big announcement in 6 DAYS!”

She’s accepting donations on Jerica for Congress website, as well as RSVPs for a kickoff event next Thursday at the Avalon mixed-use development in Alpharetta.

That’s currently within the boundaries of the new 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn by the Republican-dominated Georgia legislature after Democrat Lucy McBath won the seat in 2018.

Those boundaries included East Cobb, North Fulton, Sandy Springs and some of Buckhead.

Last year McBath, a black Democrat, won the 7th Congressional District seat based largely in Gwinnett.

But a federal lawsuit has been filed challenging the Georgia U.S. House maps, contending that they were drawn to dilute minority voting strength.

Richardson resides in the new 6th District, but reapportionment drew her out of her East Cobb home in District 2. Her term expires at the end of next year.

Her Congressional campaign website doesn’t include priorities or other specifics other than some basic biographical information.

“Jerica’s success lies in recognizing that what connects us is far greater than what separates us,” the website states. “Solving problems through collaboration and empowering others is a way of life for Jerica and she wants to put that to work for the citizens of Georgia’s 6th Congressional District.”

She and the board’s other two Democrats approved maps last fall that would have kept her in her commission seat. A lawsuit was filed by Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill to challenge Cobb’s decision to invoke home rule, arguing that only the legislature can conduct reapportionment.

Gambrill was denied standing in the suit in Cobb Superior Court but a hearing on its merits is scheduled for November.

Richardson Congressional campaign kickoff
Congressional maps showing metro Atlanta seats. Source: Georgia Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office

The new 6th District includes some of East Cobb, North Fulton and Sandy Springs, and Republican strongholds in Forsyth in Dawson counties were added.

That seat was won last November by Republican Rich McCormick, who got 62 percent of the vote in the general election over Democrat Bob Christian, who has filed to run again in 2024.

But the plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking another majority-black Congressional district to be created in metro Atlanta under provisions of the federal Voting Rights Act.

A trial began this week in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, following a ruling last week that struck down a Republican-majority Congressional maps in Alabama for similar reasons. The state has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Richardson was elected in 2020 in her first campaign for public office to succeed three-term Republican commissioner Bob Ott.

According to Federal Election Commission reports, Richardson filed her campaign paperwork on Aug. 16.

In addition to Christian and Richardson, another Democrat has filed to run. Shelly Abraham of Duluth, a mechanical consulting engineer, is a first-time candidate for public office.

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New Avenue public plaza dubbed ‘East Cobb’s hometown hangout’

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Avenue East Cobb celebration

A few hundred spectators decked out in garden-party attire watched as a large green curtain was pulled down Thursday to reveal a new public plaza at Avenue East Cobb.

The centerpiece of the retail center’s redevelopment also features a live music stage, and a high-energy cover band rocked the venue for a couple of hours after that, as guests munched on appetizers from current and forthcoming restaurants, enjoyed cocktails and danced.

More than a year in the making, the new open-air plaza signals a new phase for Avenue, which has been rebranded as it has been re-energized.

An official from North American Properties, which signed on as a management partner last year, calls it “East Cobb’s hometown hangout,” with the purpose tied to getting the public to come, and stay.

Two new “jewel box” restaurants are still under construction, and some outdoor seating has been set up in front of Round Trip Brewing Co., which will be opening a German-style taproom next spring.

Avenue East Cobb celebration

But the plaza is officially open to the public, and continuing events such as Friday night live music are on tap. That includes “Electric Avenue” concerts every Friday from 6-8 p.m. through October.

The plaza features a variety of comfortable chairs and sofas and two bar areas, along with a green turf in front of the stage suitable for spreading out blankets.

Avenue East Cobb celebration
Rev. Dr. Ike Reighard, CEO of MUST Ministries, thanked the attendees.

The venue also includes optional valet parking, which some cocktail party guests took advantage of at Thursday’s event.

The cost was $75 a person, but all the proceeds went to MUST Ministries.

CEO Ike Reighard said the result was $10,000 for the Marietta non-profit, which typically served around 300 homeless clients per night before COVID-19.

That figure shot up to 1,500 a night during the height of the pandemic.

“The only thing that exceeded the level of need was the level of generosity, and that’s what you did,” he said.

Reighard, who’s also senior pastor at Piedmont Church, told the audience that “you won’t hear a minister saying ‘drink up,’ but thank you.”

Avenue East Cobb celebration
Pimiento cheese grit fritters from Peach State Pizza.

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East Cobb Food Scores: Vatica Indian; Minas Emporium; more

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East Cobb food scores, Vatica Indian Cuisine

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

Blue Moon Pizza
2359 Windy Hill Road, Suite 100
September 6, 2023 Score: 85, Grade: B

Eastvalley Elementary School
2570 Lower Roswell Road
September 5, 2023 Score: 100, Grade: A

Minas Emporium
2555 Delk Road, Suite B4
September 6, 2023 Score: 99, Grade: A

Vatica Indian Cuisine
1475 Terrell Mill Road, Suite 105
September 6, 2023 Score: 80, Grade: B

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East Cobb art gallery to feature exhibit on natural hair

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Submitted information from LM Frame and Gallery:East Cobb art gallery natural hair exhibit

We are proud to announce our new exhibit, “From Embarrassment to Pride,” an art exhibit that deals with the history of natural hair.
The exhibit is for the first time hosted in East Cobb and is a collaboration with Guadeloupean artist Guylaine Conquet.
The opening reception is Sept. 22 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. at LM Frame and Gallery (1062 Johnson Ferry Road).

Several African American guest artists may also surprise the public during this special evening.

Artist’s website: Visit.

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Atlanta Opera 2023-24 season features Rigoletto, La Bohème

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Atlanta Opera 2023-24 season features Rigoletto, La Boheme

The 2023–24 Atlanta Opera season will be getting underway in a week, with most performances at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center.

The opener will take place Sept. 15-Oct. 1 at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta, and it will be the East Coast premiere of “The Shining,” based on the Stephen King novel.

The Cobb Energy Center is the venue for the rest of the way, with another horror classic, “Frankenstein,” leading off on Oct. 28 in what’s being called an “imaginative presentation of vintage cinema.” The performance includes a new score for the full orchestra and singers performing live to the film.

Guiseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto will be performed on Nov. 4, 7, 10 and 12 to round out the 2023 calendar year.

Giacomo Puccini’s La Bohème will be presented on Jan. 20, 23, 26 and 28, with star tenor Long Long making his Atlanta Opera debut.

Benjamin Britten’s adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” runs on March 2, 5, 8 and 10 featuring countertenor Iestyn Davies and soprano Liv Redpath.

The season finale takes place on April 27 and 30 and May 3 and 5 and it’s Richard Wagner’s “Die Walklüre,” following last year’s Atlanta Opera presentation of Wagner’s “Das Rheingold.”

Tickets are available at www.atlantaopera.org or by calling the ticket office at 404-881-8885 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

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East Cobb artist unveils breast cancer awareness initiative

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Amy Rees of East Cobb, a local artist and entrepreneur, is partnering with a non-profit called It’s The Journey to raise awareness for breast cancer.East Cobb artist breast cancer awareness initiative

The organization is holding a Georgia 2-Day Walk Oct. 7-8 that will cover 30 miles in the city of Atlanta (here’s the route).

Rees, the owner of AmyWynne Designs also created Personality Plates, a collection of hand-painted stoneware plates. That includes a line called the Sisters in Pink collection to honor women who have helped, motivated and inspired her.

Those driving forces include her mother Bobbi Strauss, now 82, who as a teenager in the late 1950s was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy.

“This aligns with our own mission of supporting women in need,” Rees said in a release. “Our Sisters In Pink initiative is more than a collection of plates; it’s a tribute to every woman, who has faced the unfathomable journey of breast cancer with courage and resilience,” said Amy.

“However, this project also resonates on a deeply personal level for me. My mom, Bobbi, is one of the reasons I wanted to create this line. I can’t even call her a breast cancer ‘survivor’ because she didn’t ‘survive’ life, she is living it to its fullest! I wanted to share her powerful story.”

Strauss was detected with breast cancer at a time when women were discouraged from being public about it beyond telling family members.

“They thought they were protecting me by keeping it a secret,” Strauss said in the release. “It was 1959 and they didn’t want people looking at me differently.”

She didn’t have a support group and didn’t confide even with friends. But photographers would take pictures during her hospital recovery for medical journals.

Rees is the only child of Bobbi Strauss and her husband, who died more than two decades ago.

“Amid all her trials, my mother has always exuded positivity, gratitude, and grace,” Rees said, “She has never viewed herself as a victim, but rather a survivor; someone who considers herself fortunate for the time she had with my father, and for the joys of being a mother and a grandmother. She stands today as a beacon of hope and strength.”

The Sisters in Pink Collection, according to Rees, “is a symbol of our collective hope for a future where early detection, comprehensive treatments, and open conversations about breast cancer become the norm, not the exception.”

A total of 10 percent of the proceeds from the Sisters in Pink sales will go to It’s The Journey.

East Cobb artist breast cancer awareness

EAST COBBER parade and festival returns for 25th rendition

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East Cobber parade
The EAST COBBER parade has regularly featured teachers of the year from East Cobb schools.

After a four-year hiatus due to COVID-19 and an ownership change, the EAST COBBER magazine is bringing back its community parade and festival Saturday.

This is the 25th rendition of the event and the first under owner Laren Brown, the magazine’s former advertising manager who purchased the publication last year from founder Cynthia Rozzo.

Everything else should be familiar to those who’ve attended before—the parade marches off at 10 a.m at Mt. Bethel Elementary School (1223 Johnson Ferry Road) and heads down Johnson Ferry Road to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church (Olde Towne Parkway entrance).

That’s where the festival takes place from 11-3, and admission is free.

The first event was in 1995 with 500 people marching and has grown to include high school marching bands and many community organizations. An estimated 1,000 participants are set for Saturday’s event, which features a tribute to local schools.

“Our principals and Teachers of the Year are the parade’s VIPs,” Brown said, “We realize many people move to East  Cobb because of the schools, and the parade has always  been a unique way to honor and celebrate all our great schools.”

The festival includes entertainment, arts and crafts, concessions, carnival  games, and local businesses (East Cobb News will be there as a first-time vendor!).

CertaPro Painters is the Presenting Sponsor of the parade and festival.

Here’s more about the parade route and traffic closures:

“As a safety measure, the Cobb County Police Department will shut down Johnson Ferry Road — both northbound and southbound lanes — between Lower Roswell Road & Upper Roswell Road and will be closed to traffic 9:45am to 11:30am. Woodlawn Road will not be closed, but traffic will be affected. Princeton Lakes Drive will be closed from 8am to 10:30am for the parade staging area at Mt. Bethel Elementary School, 1210 Johnson Ferry Road.

Cobb County Department of Transportation will be setting up road detours at the intersections of Indian Hills Parkway & Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway & Lower Roswell Road. Road detours will also be set up at the intersections of Timber Ridge Road & Roswell Road and Timber Ridge Road & Lower Roswell Road.”

 

 

 

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East Cobb Library to hold Fall Writing Series in September

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Submitted information:East Cobb Library Fall Writing Series
Are you a writer looking to hone your craft? Join our Fall Writing Series at East Cobb Library:
Saturday, September 9 | 11am – 3pm | “Oh the Drama” A Creative Nonfiction Workshop. Instructor: Brandi Bailey. Register at cobbcat.org/events
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Tuesday, September 19 | 5:30 pm- 7pm | Writing Fiction: What’s Your Genre? Panelists: Mike Shaw, Katherine Nichols, George Weinstein, Kim Conrey
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Saturday, September 30 | 11 am – noon | Get Your Material Into Print. Instructors: Kristine Anderson, Kim Zachman. Register at cobbcat.org/events

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