The following food scores for the week of Jan. 23 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Cobb County School District announced this week that Walton High School student Catherine Kexuan Jiao has been named one of the top 300 teenage scientists in the nation in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2023.
In a release, the district said Jiao, a senior, will receive $2,000 and Walton will be awarded $2,000 for having a Society for Science scholar (full list here).
Her project was “The Implications of Smart Tip Nudging: A Data-Driven Behavioral Economic Study.”
Jiao was selected from an initial group of nearly 2,00 students from across the country “based on their outstanding research, leadership skills, community involvement, commitment to academics, creativity in asking scientific questions and exceptional promise as STEM leaders demonstrated through submitting their original, independent research projects, essays, and recommendations,” according to the district release.
The Society for Science, founded in 1921, fosters the expansion of scientific literacy, STEM education and scientific research.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has been a sponsor of the science talent search, which dates back 82 years, since 2017.
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As we have noted before (including last week with the forthcoming Westfield Tavern), restaurants and bars in Cobb have to take a few extra steps to get an alcohol pouring license if they come up against distance requirements in the county ordinance.
The Righteous Que barbecue restaurant at the Piedmont Commons Shopping Center has been open since 2012, and in December applied for a beer and wine license (it’s closed on Sundays).
As usual, the Cobb Business License Division denied the application, because the restaurant at 1050 E. Piedmont Road is less than 300 feet from a residence and less than 600 feet from the McCleskey Family-East Cobb YMCA, which is considered a park and subject to that distance requirement.
If an applicant appeals, that is heard by the Board of License Review, which is an appointed body that typically issues a reversal unless there is opposition or other circumstances.
There wasn’t opposition to the Righteous Que liquor license, and during the Jan. 5 appeal hearing the restaurant’s attorney said the plans are to serve beer and wine only, with customers taking their drinks to their tables after ordering, and that there will not be a bar.
Righteous Que’s opening hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The attorney said that employees are being trained to check identification of customers at the time of beer and wine purchases, and that 90 percent of the business is expected to come from food sales.
“Additionally, the premises has been licensed in the past and granting a license now will not adversely affect on the residents or YMCA,” the restaurant stated as part of the appeal.”
Righteous Que moved into space that previously had been a Mexican restaurant and said that employees found to have violated the underage sales ordinance will be immediately terminated.
The review board reversed the denial 5-0, with the final say going to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, who approved the reversal Tuesday on their consent agenda.
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Two weeks after being removed from the meeting dais after trying to abstain, the two Republican members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners cast votes on Tuesday.
But they did so under protest, introducing formal statements that they wanted read into the record before every vote, reiterating their objection to reapportionment maps passed by the board’s Democratic majority the Republicans say are unconstitutional and illegal.
Republicans Keli Gambrill and JoAnn Birrell also challenged the accuracy of the minutes of the Jan. 10 meeting—most of which they watched from the back of the room—saying that a meeting video did not properly convey the details of an executive session that had been called, and that they say falsely recorded the two Republicans as casting a vote to go into executive session when they did not.
“The clerk has us voting when we did not vote,” Gambrill said, adding that in her first term in office, she couldn’t recall not voting to approve meeting minutes.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid also asked Gambrill and Birrell to vote again on the first vote of the meeting, for a swimming pool construction permit, for which they initially tried to abstain. A nearly 29-minute recess ensued.
Board policies do not permit abstentions unless there is a valid financial conflict of interest. But a motion for another vote on the swimming pool item was not made after the meeting resumed. When Birrell and Gambrill declined to vote, Cupid asked them to leave the dais and later asked for security to remove them.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Gambrill asked for a forensic audit of the video to be conducted by an outside party, and for commissioners’ votes to be electronically recorded from now on.
In response, Cupid said that commissioners are responsible for the keeping of minutes and that the county clerk [Pam Mabry] is being unfairly burdened.
“It’s an unfortunate day when we bring it up in a public manner,” Cupid said, prompting some groans from the spectators, and later added that an attempt to “dress down our county clerk was disrespectful.”
Cupid said that there was “not complete sync with the communication on the dais with the recording. But the truth is still the truth. What the eyes saw cannot be unseen and the truth that occurred cannot be undone.”
Cupid said commissioners voted to go into executive session, and “if you did not believe that they should have not participated. I hope this never happens again.”
But Birrell, whose District 3 boundaries are in dispute, she also couldn’t vote for the minutes for the first time during her tenure, which just began a fourth term.
She said there were several discrepancies in the proposed minutes, and Cupid’s directive for them to leave the dais wasn’t recorded.
Birrell repeated Gambrill’s complaint that a vote that was recorded as 3-2 that she said was accurately a 3-0 vote.
“I’m not demeaning Pam,” Birrell said, referring to Mabry. “A lot of this was procedures that were taken that I don’t agree with.”
Her District 2 East Cobb colleague, Democrat Jerica Richardson, said she supported the minutes because “the statements in it are ones I recall.”
She also told Mabry that “your integrity is not in question.”
Tuesday’s votes to approve the Jan. 10 meeting minutes passed 3-2, with the Democrats voting in favor and the Republicans opposed.
Citizens spoke on both sides of the redistricting issue, which is expected to be resumed in Cobb Superior Court when East Cobb resident Larry Savage refiles a lawsuit that had been withdrawn, challenging the county maps.
Mindy Seger of East Cobb, who leads Richardson’s political action committee to stop the legislative maps, said the county’s home rule challenge is necessary because the legislature’s actions to ignore the Cobb delegation-drawn map sets “a dangerous precedent.”
Local maps, Seger said, “are local matters to be handled locally.”
But Marietta resident Leroy Emkin said speakers arguing on behalf of the county map “are missing the point.
“The point is the law. [Commission] district boundaries are voted on by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor. . . . At the present time it is clear that no county has the authority [to draw maps]. The law is the law.”
The last speaker of the night, Donald Barth of the Cloverdale Heights neighborhood in the city of Marietta, summed up the confusion of citizens who aren’t sure who their commissioner is.
He’s been redistricted before, from District 4 to District 2 and now to District 3—he thinks.
“Does anybody know where in the hell I belong?” Barth said. “Because Marietta don’t want me.”
At the end of the meeting, during commissioners’ remarks, Birrell read from a second prepared statement, saying that Cobb’s home rule challenge has “increased tensions” on the board.
She said she and her constituents in District 3 have been harmed, the latter by not knowing who their duly elected official is, even though she was re-elected in November under the state-approved maps that have been certified by the Cobb Board of Elections.
“If the amended [county] map is the law, what does that do to the voters of all the county? Please continue to pray for all of us.”
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Wednesday is going to be a blustery day for Cobb County and much of Georgia.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for a good portion of the state beginning at midnight Wednesday through midnight Thursday.
Cobb is included in an area in which winds could gust between 30-40 mph during the advisory period (in yellow).
Rain also is expected overnight Wednesday, with a 100 percent chance of rain by sunrise and forecast to taper off by late morning.
The NWS is forecasting that winds in the Cobb and Marietta area will be southeast 25-30 mph, then becoming west 15-20 mph in the Wednesday afternoon.
High temperatures Wednesday are expected to be in the low 60s, with lows Thursday morning falling into the high 30s.
The rest of the week will be sunny, but colder, with highs only in the mid 40s Thursday and Friday and lows at or below freezing both days.
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Cobb County School District social worker Julie Lance and PORCH-Marietta neighborhood coordinator Sue Heavlin.
Last fall we posted about a food collection drive called PORCH-Marietta that was working to keep the food pantry stocked at Brumby Elementary School.
The all-volunteer organization has announced that its launching a new program, called PORCH for Schools, to serve broader needs in the Marietta area, and is initially focusing efforts on getting healthy snacks to children attending Sedalia Park Elementary School.
Thus far PORCH-Marietta has provided 37 cases of snacks to Sedalia Park students so they could “keep both body and mind nourished, eliminating distraction due to hunger,” according to a release.
As of December PORCH-Marietta had donated more than 12,000 pounds of food to the Brumby pantry and the Center for Family Resources pantry.
Participants leave food on their doorstops on designated monthly pickup days (the next collection date is Feb. 9) and can also contribute financially.
Some of the participating neighborhoods in East Cobb include Sentinel Lake, Indian Hills, The Oaks, Heatherleigh, Paper Mill Manor, Chimney Lakes, Timberlea Lakes, Beverly Hills Estates, Weatherstone, Elan, Sibley Forest and Glen Ivy.
PORCH-Marietta chapter leader Liz Platner said the public can help with the food drive with tax-deductible donations by clicking here. Businesses also can support the effort as sponsors.
“Our holiday giving campaign raised enough funds to buy snacks for Sedalia Park Elementary students who didn’t bring a snack from home this semester,” Platner said. “We hope to restock their snack shelves in August and include additional schools as our budget allows.”
PORCH Communities was started in 2011 in Chapel Hill, N.C. and now has 26 chapters in eight states, distributing more than $7.8 million in food to neighbors in need.
The PORCH-Marietta chapter was founded in February 2022.
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Artisan Custom Closets of East Cobb was the 2022 Cobb Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year.
Submitted information:
The Cobb Chamber is accepting nominations and applications for the 2023 Small Business of the Year awards. The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, February 1. Applications close on February 28.
In 1982, the Small Business of the Year awards were established to honor the important role that small businesses play in the Cobb community and the economy. For the 2023 competition, the Cobb Chamber will name the 2023 Small Business of the Year, the Top 25 Small Businesses of the Year, the Businesses to Watch – businesses that have launched three years ago or less – and the Next-Level of Excellence award winner. The Next-Level of Excellence award recognizes companies that have exceeded SBA size standards and are continuing to excel.
Business owners can nominate themselves or other businesses. Nominees and applicants must:
Comply with the U.S. Small Business Administration’s size standards.
The applicant must be the owner, partner, or major shareholder of the business, and active in its day-to-day operations.
The business must be financially stable and operational for a minimum of three years – except for Businesses to Watch applicants, which are businesses that were established fewer than three years ago.
Businesses must be a member of the Cobb Chamber at the time the award is presented on May 8.
Once applications are submitted, each application is judged on business growth and performance, business challenges, unique and innovative approaches, community involvement and contributions, company culture, and employee relations. For the 2023 Small Business of the Year competition, an independent evaluation team will choose a Top 25, and from that group five finalists will continue in the competition for one to be named the 2023 Small Business of the Year. For Business To Watch and Next-Level of Excellence applicants, an independent evaluation team will choose the top three applicants for each award category. An overall winner for each award category will be chosen from the top three applicant pool.
The winners of each award category will be announced and celebrated at the Small Business of the Year Luncheon on Monday, May 8 from 11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Coca-Cola Roxy.
Nominations and applications can be submitted at https://bit.ly/3IY6J7k. For more information on the Small Business of the Year Awards or to become a sponsor, contact Jani Dix at 770-859-2335 or jdix@cobbchamber.org.
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Democrats conducted the Jan. 10 Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting by themselves after their Republican colleagues were ordered from the dais by Chairwoman Lisa Cupid (center).
A political advocacy committee started by Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson to fight against legislative maps that would draw her out of her seat is encouraging those who support her to speak out when commissioners meet on Tuesday.
The For Which It Stance group wants to “fill the room” and speak during public comment sessions as a home rule dispute continues to roil the five-woman board.
The notification was amplified on the Facebook page of the Cobb County Democratic Committee.
The Cobb County Republican Party has posted a similar notice on social media, urging its supporters to “show up and support our state constitution.”
On Jan. 10, Republican commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill tried to abstain from voting, saying maps approved by the three Democrats on the board are unconstitutional under Georgia law.
They were told by Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid that they could not abstain without a valid conflict and eventually were removed from the dais, watching the rest of the meeting from the back of the room.
Whether that scenario may repeat itself Tuesday is uncertain. When asked by East Cobb News what she plans to do at the meeting, Birrell said only that “I will be making a statement next week.”
Birrell began her fourth term in January after being re-elected under new boundaries in District 3, which includes most of East Cobb.
Those maps were approved by the Georgia legislature after Cobb GOP lawmakers skirted the common courtesy of honoring local delegation maps.
The Cobb delegation had a one-member majority, and commission maps drawn by former chairman Erick Allen would contain most of Birrell’s former district, including some of Northeast Cobb, the Town Center area and city of Marietta.
That map, which Birrell opposed, was never voted on by the legislature, but it’s what the county has submitted to the state, and it’s the one the county attorney’s office is saying is currently valid.
Richardson was elected in 2020 in District 2, which has included some of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Vinings area.
She moved to a home off Post Oak Tritt Road last year, and under state law, would have had to move into the new District 2 to seek re-election next year.
That’s because the legislative maps drew District 2 to include Cumberland-Vinings, Marietta and most of the Kennesaw-Town Center area and took out East Cobb.
But Richardson isn’t budging, as the county is claiming home rule provisions that Republicans said do not apply when it comes to reapportionment.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr this week agreed, saying the county maps are “not legally binding.”
But there’s not an active lawsuit to contest the county maps. East Cobb resident Larry Savage withdrew a suit in Cobb Superior Court and is planning refile it soon.
In the meantime, said Mindy Seger, the executive director of For Which It Stance, the option that would cause the least harm and disruption to is to honor the county maps and keep Richardson in office until the courts decide the matter.
She said Richardson’s fight is about the “representation of 200,000 people,” her District 2 constituency, who were the subject of an unprecedented action by the legislature—drawing out an incumbent elected official.
Savage’s initial lawsuit sought a preliminary injunction to uphold the state maps. That would trigger Richardson’s removal from office and a special election.
If that were to happen, and the county then won its home rule claim, Seger said, that would create even more chaos than what the Republicans are saying is happening now.
Seger, who was a leader of the anti-cityhood East Cobb Alliance, also encouraged Birrell and Gambrill to show up and vote—not abstain—and represent their constituents.
The commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), and the full agenda can be found by clicking here.
There are two public comment periods, one at the beginning and the other near the end, with a maximum of six speakers each who are limited to speak for five minutes.
You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.
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The Marietta-Roswell chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. is organizing a human trafficking forum Jan. 28 at East Cobb Middle School ((825 Terrell Mill Road).
“An Eye-Opening Experience on Human Trafficking” takes place during Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and the forum will include a simulation experience, a panel discussion that includes the Cobb Police Department’s Crimes Against Children Unit and youth creating awareness posters.
The forum is next Saturday, Jan. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and you can register by clicking here.
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For at least a couple of days, the Trader Joe’s at Pinestraw Plaza (4250 Roswell Road) has been closed due to plumbing issues.
When we went by on Friday afternoon, two employees were giving customers that news, and it was an odd sight to see that part of the retail center’s parking lot empty of vehicles.
They didn’t indicate when the store would reopen, but apparently some pipes burst. Not long after we took the above photo, a repair vehicle was parked near the entrance.
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Dr. Quintin Bostic’s official Teaching Lab photo, before his profile information was taken down.
The Cobb County School District said Thursday that allegations it purchased curriculum materials promoting Critical Race Theory—against district and state education policies and Georgia law—are untrue.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said at a Cobb Board of Education meeting that an investigation into a claim by an Atlanta educational consultant that he sold CRT products to Cobb turned up nothing.
Dr. Quinton Bostic had been a content manager with The Teaching Lab, a Washington, D.C. educational non-profit.
In a video released by Project Veritas, a conservative media outlet, Bostic was secretly recorded saying he had sold CRT materials to the Cobb and Fulton school districts.
In the video, which was recorded without his knowledge or consent, Bostic described himself as an “evil salesman.”
“If you don’t say the words ‘critical race theory,’ you can technically teach it,” Bostic said in the video (see below), “and they don’t even know what’s going on.”
The Cobb school board last year banned the teaching of Critical Race Theory, as have the Georgia Board of Education and the Georgia legislature under what’s referred to as “divisive concepts” topics.
Reading from prepared remarks, Ragsdale said the Cobb school district “has no record of purchasing any product or service from The Teaching Lab or Quintin Bostic. We will continue to monitor the situation as appropriate, just as we would any other concerning allegation of state law, state board policy or a policy of this board.
“The CCSD team will continue to follow this board’s directive prohibiting using district resources and authority to promote unnecessarily divisive content aligned with personal political positions rather than Georgia educational standards. It unnecessarily districts and divides at the expense of instruction and is an abuse of the trust and authority of the public school district.”
Board members did not comment on Ragsdale’s statement or the investigation.
The Fulton County School System also said it has no recordof purchasing CRT curriculum from Bostic or the Teaching Lab.
In the video, Bostic said the mission of the Teaching Lab, which he also has dubbed “the Scam Lab . . . is to fundamentally shift the paradigm of teacher professional learning for educational equity.”
He has been placed on administrative leave by The Teaching Lab, which has removed any reference to him from its website.
According to his website, Bostic earned bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D. degrees in education from Georgia State University.
He was a teacher trainer and instructional content developer at the Atlanta Speech School and an instructor and graduate research assistant at GSU’s College of Education and Human Development.
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For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cobb County School District has proposed an updated strategic plan.
The 2023-28 update, presented Thursday at a Cobb Board of Education work session, outlines a set of nine skills for high school graduates to master, broken into three categories.
The plan also summarizes seven support areas to and designated four “board goals” with the aim of helping students reach those objectives.
“It’s a road map,” Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said, one that “gives everyone a template of where you hope to be and how you try to get there.”
(You can watch a replay of the discussion by clicking here; it starts around the 57-minute mark.)
The last updated strategic plan went through the 2018-19 school year, right before the pandemic was declared, and as a 2020-25 plan was in the works.
The latter is essentially the plan that was presented to board members on Thursday; they will be asked to approve it in February.
John Floresta, the district’s Chief Strategy and Accountability and Officer, said the 2023-28 plan is the result of ongoing conversations and feedback from teachers, principals, parents and business leaders for more than a year.
“We have defined what a Cobb graduate should be and what they should be able to do,” he said in response to a question from board member Becky Sayler about how the public was invited to participate.
The proposed plan includes the following competencies for students receiving a diploma:
Scholar: Math and science content knowledge; Language arts and social studies content knowledge; Personal finance content knowledge
Leader: Communication skills; Entrepreneurial skills; Self-direction and personal responsibility
Citizen: Critical thinking skills; Collaboration skills; Community Awareness
The “profiles of support,” as Ragsdale termed it, are academics, technology, community, culture of care, safety, communication and finance.
In addition, four board goals were outlined, and they also are the same as what had been proposed for the 2020-25 plan:
“Vary learning experience to increase success in college and career pathways:”
“Differentiate resources for students based on needs;”
“Recruit, hire, support and retain employees for the highest level of excellence;”
“Develop stakeholder involvement to promote student success.”
The 2020-25 preview included some more details on what had been the district’s CobbMetrics assessment site, but that has been taken down.
(CobbMetrics is a pilot testing program that the district had been using to apply for a waiver from state Milestones requirement, but that request was rejected in the fall of 2019, just as the proposed 2020-25 strategic plan was taking shape. CobbMetrics included shorter, continuous and individualized tests designed to gauge student progress in real time and give teachers the tools to adapt to what they see as learning needs.)
The strategic plan is an overview that doesn’t include Cobb Metrics or other data-driven accountability measures, or school-level plans.
Board member Randy Scamihorn asked how the strategic plan blends in to the district’s “vision,” and Floresta said that “it makes your goals real. It’s how we do what we can do.”
“It is the top-tier plan,” Ragsdale added.
There were no references to how COVID-related relief funds have been utilized, including issues over how to address learning loss.
School board member Tre’ Hutchins said that while the board goals “are solid,” he was interested “post-COVID in looking at more support” for such things as student mental health and related recovery issues.
Some critics of the district, including the Watching the Funds-Cobb citizen watchdog group, have said that “a copy and paste of the 2019 strategic plan isn’t going to cut in 2023 and beyond.”
New board member Nichelle Davis asked, “What’s the link between our goals and data? How are we gauging our progress?”
Floresta referenced the current state educational accountability measures, including Georgia Milestones and the CCRPI (College and Career Ready Performance Index).
Ragsdale said that “we have to adapt to what students need” on an individualized basis to the extent that the district could essentially have “108,000 IEPs.”
Those figures are the district’s current enrollment, and the latter reference is an Individual Education Plan mostly centered now on special-needs students.
When board member David Banks of East Cobb asked why parents and the public should care about a strategic plan, Floresta said “so they’ll know what their children will be expected” to master and that educators “are making decisions that you all want.”
Banks said “are we preparing [students] for what they’re going to be expecting in the next 12-13 years? . . . I’m worried about preparing students for what’s coming.”
Floresta said that “we can tell you the skill sets in this plan are relevant, no matter how the world changes.”
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The following food scores for the week of Jan. 16 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Next Saturday, Jan. 28, the East Marietta Little League will holds its Baseball Bash from 2-4 p.m. at Sewell Park (2085 Lower Roswell Road).
And the Saturday after that, Feb. 4, is the Sandy Plains Softball Fun Day from 1-4 p.m. at Shaw Park (900 Shaw Park Road).
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The mother of a J.J. Daniell Middle School student who was stabbed during an incident on Tuesday said her daughter is recovering at home, but is traumatized by what happened.
Cecile Kirk said her daughter Summer was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after being stabbed by another student several times at a cafeteria lunch table.
“The attacker who was thought to be a friend walked up to victim, handed her a tshirt she had borrowed from my child when Summer reached for the shirt the other child grabbed Summer’s hair and started stabbing at her neck and head,” Cecile Kirk wrote in a gofundme note to raise money for the girl’s mental health services.
“Summer ended up with multiple wounds one almost hitting an artery. Summer was sent to hospital for examination and sutures/ staples. This incident was not life threatening but very well the intent behind it was.”
The Cobb County School District has declined to divulge details of the altercation, other than saying on Tuesday that that the victim and the attacker were both stabbed and that no one else was hurt.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide further details at this time,” the Cobb school district said, adding that charges may be pending against the still-unidentified attacker.
Neither the district nor Principal Amy Stump elaborated on what may have led to the stabbing.
Stump said in a message to Daniell families that the alleged attacker “made a terrible choice during an altercation with another student” and offered support for anxiety and fear via school counselors.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has said it’s his opinion that reapportionment maps passed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners drawing the boundaries for their own districts are “not legally binding.”
But he said his office cannot initiate a lawsuit under state law and would have to wait for a withdrawn lawsuit to be refiled on behalf of an East Cobb resident in order to take part.
Carr’s spokeswoman, Kara Richardson, sent out a brief statement Tuesday:
“It is the opinion of the Georgia Department of Law that the action taken by the Cobb Commission to pass an alternate map was inappropriate and not legally binding. As we have explained repeatedly to interested parties, Georgia law does not grant our Department the authority to initiate a lawsuit in the current situation. We will, however, not hesitate to engage when and where appropriate should a lawsuit be filed by the right party.”
Carr’s opinion is something that Republican commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill have been seeking as the commission’s redistricting dispute has reached the courts.
East Cobb resident Larry Savage is a Republican former Cobb Commission Chairman candidate who filed a lawsuit in Cobb Superior Court to invalidate the county maps.
His suit was filed against Cobb Board of Elections director Janine Eveler and after a court hearing earlier this month his attorneys have said they will refile against the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
Those maps were drawn by former State Rep. Erick Allen, then the Cobb legislative delegation chairman, but they were never voted on by the Georgia General Assembly.
Cobb commission maps passed by the Georgia legislature would include most of East Cobb in District 3 (gold).
The maps that were sponsored by Cobb GOP lawmakers and approved by the Republican-led legislature last year would have drawn Richardson out of her seat and into District 3, which would include most of East Cobb.
Richardson has two years remaining in her term and would have had to move into the new District 2 by Jan. 1 to remain in office.
But she said she would not step down or move, and she, chairwoman Lisa Cupid and commissioner Monique Sheffield vowed to challenge the GOP maps under Georgia’s home rule law.
Birrell and Gambrill have said Cobb’s maps are illegal, becuase the legislature is in charge of reapportionment, and opinions by the legislature’s Office of Legislative Counsel and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office reached the same conclusion.
In response to a request for comment from East Cobb News, Birrell said Tuesday that Carr’s “opinion just confirms the legislative counsel’s opinion and secretary of state’s opinion that the county map is illegal and unconstitutional. Leaves it up to the courts to decide.”
Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said the county attorney’s office, which has said the county’s maps are in effect unless and until they are overturned in a court of law, isn’t commenting on Carr’s opinion.
Birrell, who was re-elected to a fourth term in November to represent District 3 with the boundaries approved by the legislature, said she’s “not comfortable” voting, not being sure which maps are valid.
Maps approved by the Cobb commission’s Democrats would keep Jerica Richardson of East Cobb in the District 2 (in pink) that she currently represents.
She was told by the deputy county attorney that the county maps are the ones she should abide by and that legal opinions are only opinions until a court ruling.
Last Friday, Cupid issued a statement from Cobb County Attorney William Rowling that “even if a person has a good faith belief that a law is unconstitutional or invalid in some way, he or she is not at liberty to simply disregard a law based on that personal belief. Instead, that law must be followed unless and until it is struck down by a court of law.”
Richardson has said the home rule challenge may be unprecedented, but so are the legislature’s maps, which skirted typical courtesies to honor local delegation lines.
She started a political advocacy committee to address the issue, For Which It Stance, incorporated by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office as a 501(c)4 domestic non-profit organization, and whose executive director, Mindy Seger, led the East Cobb Alliance, which fought against the now-defeated East Cobb cityhood referendum.
East Cobb News has left messages with Richardson and Seger seeking comment as well as Jason Thompson, an attorney for Savage.
Allen, who unsuccessfully ran for Georgia lieutenant governor last year, is the new chairman of the Cobb County Democratic Committee.
Carr is a Republican re-elected to a second term last November.
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The Cobb County School District said two students were injured in a stabbing incident during an altercation Tuesday at J.J. Daniell Middle School in East Cobb.
The district media office told East Cobb News that the victim was stabbed along with the student, who could be facing charges.
The media office added that no one else was hurt but did not indicate detail the extent of the injuries.
“Earlier today, an altercation occurred at a middle school where a student caused injury to both the victim and themselves,” the district said in a statement. “This situation is being handled according to state law and district policies, including discipline and criminal charges. Students and staff are safe.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide further details at this time.”
In an e-mail to Daniell school families, principal Amy Stump said the fight took place during lunch.
“One of our students made a terrible choice during an altercation with another student. The student attacked another student and caused injury to both the victim and themselves.”
She said that emergency services personnel responded immediately, but she also didn’t disclose the details about the injuries.
Stump added that “this kind of event can cause anxiety and fear in students and adults alike. If you feel that your child would benefit from talking with one of our school counselors, please reach out to your child’s counselor and share with us what you need. If your student needs more immediate assistance, please call our front office and let us know.
“We encourage students, staff and parents to visit http://www.cobbshield.com to see what Cobb Schools is doing to keep Daniell Middle School safe, and feel free to report any safety concerns to the District’s Tipline via call, text or email.”
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Cobb DOT has closed off a portion of a sidewalk and a shoulder on southbound East Piedmont Road due to a sinkhole.
Cobb government sent a message Monday evening that no traffic lanes have thus far been affected, but that work crews will be monitoring the site this week due to rainy weather in the forecast.
The sinkhole is located in front of the Sprayberry Square Shopping Center, just south of the intersection of Sandy Plains Road.
The problem was caused by a failed joint in a drainage pipe, and the Cobb message said repairs will start when the rain moves out.
There’s a 100 percent chance of rain Tuesday afternoon, followed by a 40 percent chance of rain Wednesday and a 100 percent chance again on Thursday before sunny weather returns later this week.
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Those behind the forthcoming Westfield Tavern at the Shallowford Corners Shopping Center say they’re getting closer to opening, and they got a big boost in the process last week.
Cobb commissioners approved on a consent agenda an item to grant a beer, wine, liquor and Sunday pouring license to Westfield Tavern, which is set to occupy the former East Cobb Tavern and Keegan’s Public House space.
Managing partner Erik Tierney told East Cobb News Monday that he’s hoping to open the doors in a couple of weeks, but couldn’t say exactly when.
He’s still hiring a staff and “waiting on a few other things” regarding licensing and permitting from Cobb County.
A veteran of the Atlanta pub and community tavern scene, Tierney said Westfield Tavern will be a “family-friendly community tavern” much like his Whitehall Tavern, which opened in Buckhead at the Peachtree Battle Shopping Center near Piedmont Hospital in 2011.
His restaurant group also includes the Creatwood Tavern in Smyrna, which features a rooftop patio.
While there’s a sports bar-type atmosphere, Tierney said he wants Westfield Tavern to exude a real community feel—it’s named after an adjacent subdivision on Shallowford Road—and will include an area for kids’ games.
The business also plans to get involved as a sponsor and partner in community activities, especially those involving youth and in the Pope, Lassiter and other school communities.
In doing the market research, Tierney said the demographics are very similar to Whitehall Tavern—40 and over and those raising children.
“It works very well down there,” he said in reference of the Buckhead location’s concept, “and I think it’s replicable here.”
The Westfield Tavern menu, he said, will also reflect those similarities (here’s Whitehall’s), including a number of kids’ items.
While Westfield will be located in the heart of the “JOSH” area soon to welcome East Cobb Church and new residential development, Tierney said its proximity to Roswell also is ideal.
“We’re trying to create this as a destination,” he said.
East Cobb Tavern opened in Jan. 2020, but closed soon after due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It briefly reopened then shut again in early 2021 in an attempt to find new ownership.
But that didn’t materialize, and the premises were vacant until last fall, when plans for the Westfield Tavern got underway.
Westfield Tavern was initially denied an alcohol license due to distance requirements under Cobb ordinances, but the Cobb License Review Board reversed that decision, which was upheld by Cobb commissioners last week.
That’s a standard pattern for many restaurants and bars in Cobb (as we noted in March 2021 about the Flying Biscuit Cafe opening).
Westfield Tavern’s opening hours will be Sunday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. and Friday-Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. The address is 4401 Shallowford Road Suite 13.
Tierney said anyone interested in applying for positions at Westfield can email info@westfield-tavern.com.
Tierney, who hails from Ireland and previously was a manager of the now-closed Ri Ra Tavern in Midtown Atlanta as well as Meehan’s Public House in Atlantic Station, said that while Westfield Tavern won’t be following as a true Irish pub, “we’ll still have Guinness on tap,” he said.
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Richardson was elected in 2020 in District 2, which has included some of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Vinings area.
