Author: On Common Ground News

Gwinnett County Commissioners have awarded a $1.5 million contract for sidewalk construction along Rockbridge Road near Stone Mountain. “The sidewalk will be built between Five Forks Trickum Road and East Park Place Boulevard, which is a high-traffic area for pedestrians,” said District 2 Commissioner Lynette Howard. “The sidewalk will connect residential areas along Rockbridge to retail establishments in the East Park Place and U.S. 78 area.” CMES, Inc. had the lowest of three bids at $1,486,449. The project stretches about 1.2 miles and includes the installation of sidewalks, curb and gutter and drainage improvements along the west side of Rockbridge…

The Clarkston Culture Fest will be held on Saturday, April 22, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the intersection of Ponce de Leon Avenue and Market Street in Clarkston. The cultural celebration will kick off with the Refuge Coffee Run at 9 a.m. (8 a.m. registration) and family and children’s free fun run at 10 a.m.  Live performances will be held on the main stage featuring a variety of multi-cultural music and dance performers. A Kids’ Zone will provide face and nail painting, hair braiding, inflatable bouncy castles, photo ops, carnival games and more. Local vendors will be on site selling foods and goods. Visit…

Rockdale County Animal Control and the county’s Parks and Recreation Department will team up on April 29 to host Rockdale’s first Dash for Dogs 5K fundraiser at the Government Annex building, 1400 Parker Road, Conyers.  Top male and female finishers in each overall age group will receive medals. Participants can pre-register for the event at Johnson Park, 1781 Ebenezer Road, Conyers. Registration also is available on the day of the race or online at the county’s website (in the special events section) on the Recreation and Maintenance page. Money raised will be used to purchase fencing for the outside dog…

Keep Conyers-Rockdale Beautiful (KCRB) is accepting registrants for the Great American Cleanup (GAC), which will be held on Saturday, April 29, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., at Pine Log Park Pavilion, 1500 Georgia Highway 138, Conyers. The event, hosted in partnership with the City of Conyers and Rockdale County, encourages citizens to pick up litter and other debris around the community, and teaches youths about the importance of litter prevention and recycling. KCRB invites civic and neighborhood groups, businesses, Scout troops, churches, youth groups, individuals, and families to participate in the cleanup. Volunteers are asked to send one representative from…

CONYERS—Some of the country’s top talk shows are after 6-year-old Dani and 5-year-old Dannah Lockett. Just a few weeks ago, the two Conyers sisters who are students at Fairview Elementary School, made a video with their mom, Dannella Lockett. They were discussing Dannah’s “breakup” with her kindergarten boyfriend. The little drama queens sounded like teens giving “advice” to each other, all the while making facial expressions in their “Say What?” video. The video went viral, generating over 10 million hits. The video begins with a question that every parent asks their children: “How was school today?” But Lockett’s daughters give…

DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson is inviting the community to attend a panel discussion she’s hosting, “The State of America and the Future of Our Youth and Senior Citizens,” featuring the Rev. Al Sharpton of the National Action Network. The panel discussion will be held on Tuesday, April 11, 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Lou Walker Senior Center, 2538 Panola Road, Lithonia. In addition to Sharpton and Johnson, the panel will include DeKalb Commissioner Gregory Adams; State Representatives Pam Stephenson and Doreen Carter; and Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson. Johnson said the panel discussion is critical in light of…

DECATUR—They applauded him more than 25 times, often erupting into laughter and chorusing “Amen” at his candor. It was DeKalb County’s CEO Michael Thurmond’s first State of the County address and with encouragement from the audience, he ditched his prepared “political speech” and instead spoke from his heart. Thurmond’s address on April 4 came on the 49th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and he paid homage to the civil rights leader and other foot soldiers, thanking them for tearing down the walls of discrimination. In his address, Thurmond, 64, discussed growing up in the rural…

DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced the conviction by jury trial of two members of the Hate Committee gang who were charged in connection with a deadly crime spree spanning two days. Jurors returned guilty verdicts April 6 against Joseph Broxton, 22, and Daniel Pena, 24, on multiple counts of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, criminal attempt to commit armed robbery and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, in connection with the shooting deaths of three people and gunshot injuries to three others following a series of attacks during the summer of 2015. Defendants Broxton (a.k.a.…

A DeKalb County Grand Jury has indicted a former Roswell City Councilman in connection with sex crimes involving a teen girl. Jurors returned a 16-count indictment on April 4 against Kent Igleheart, 54, on charges of sexual exploitation of children and furnishing alcohol to a minor. The charges against Igleheart date back to February 2014, when the Defendant allegedly obtained sexually explicit images and videos of the victim, who was 14 years old at the time. According to the investigation, the defendant met the victim online while allegedly posing as a teen. Authorities say he revealed his true identity and…

Antioch-Lithonia Missionary Baptist Church has set a record in collecting bibles in an effort to meet a deficiency in Christian literature overseas. For weeks, dozens of volunteers at the church worked together to collect thousands of bibles to send to poor nations around the globe. Pastor James C. Ward said this year will mark the fourth year that the Lithonia church has participated in the “Bible Jamboree,” collecting some 2,809 bibles from the church’s congregants, outpacing last year’s donations of 1,706 bibles. “The word of God is very important and we want to spread the gospel to the entire world.…