Author: On Common Ground News

Harris amasses historic $100M  in campaign donations ATLANTA—Jamal H. Bryant, pastor of the mega New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, announced on social media today that 3,000 pastors and other black organizations have raised millions of dollars in just a few hours in support of Kamala Harris, potentially the first woman of color to be elected as President of the United States.   “We are mobilizing an army (in support of Kamala Harris),” Bryant told listeners this morning during a Facebook live post entitled “I’m with Her.”  According to media reports, Harris amassed an estimated $81M from donors around the nation, setting…

 UPDATE: Celebration of Life Service, Omega Psi Phi, Inc. Memorial Service, Public visitation announced DEKALB COUNTY, GA—Lawrence L. Nelson, Jr., founder of Lang Custom Homes, has passed away. He died on Saturday, July 20, at age 58. Mr. Nelson, an African-American who earned a distinguished reputation in metro-Atlanta as a top builder for luxurious, impeccably-designed homes, was the exclusive builder of the Greenridge community in DeKalb County. In addition to completing Greenridge in 2005, where several of DeKalb’s most prominent citizens built homes, Lang built luxury homes in Kanawha Lakes and Spencer’s Mountain subdivisions in Stone Mountain, GA.  He went on…

SNELLVILLE, GA– Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner Denise R. Mitchell is reminding customers that the Snellville Tag Office, located at 2845 Lenora Church Rd., will be temporarily closed July 24 –29 for repairs to a water main break. Customers can continue to access services at the Lawrenceville, North Gwinnett, Norcross and Peachtree Corners locations. The tag offices are open 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Hours are extended to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. Locations for the tag offices, kiosks and Department of Motor Vehicles(DMV) online services can be found at: www.GwinnettTaxCommissioner.com. For further assistance, customers can call Gwinnett’s DMV customer…

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA—Six dependent children of active Gwinnett County  Police Department employees were presented scholarships at the Gwinnett County Police Foundation’s third quarter meeting on July 18.. The scholarships are designed to reward, encourage, and assist students pursuing academic excellence and leadership.  The 2024 Memorial Scholarships were as follows: Officer Jerry Everett Memorial Scholarship Officer Ralph Davis Memorial Scholarship Officer Jesse Gravitt Memorial Scholarship Officer Chris Magill Memorial Scholarship Officer Antwan Toney Memorial Scholarship Major Stewart Bozemen Educational Scholarship At the meeting, the foundation also received a generous donation from the First American Bank and Trust.  Their donation will be used…

ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA—Rockdale County and USDA officials this week held a groundbreaking ceremony to celebrate a new community wellness garden that will provide fresh herbs and produce, the opportunity for citizens to experience yoga, sound therapy, and other wellness activities, as well as serve as a demonstration garden for children to learn about agriculture. The community wellness garden will expand the University of Georgia’s Extension Service garden at Wheeler Park, 1350 Parker Road in Conyers. Post 1 Commissioner Sherri L. Washington worked to secure the $145,000 grant for the project through the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Urban and Innovative…

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA—After a two-year investigation, Gwinnett County Police Department (GCPD), in collaboration with the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office, has indicted two people in connection with 19 fraud and forgery-related charges. The scam involved a total of more than $400,000 loss between eight victims in multiple states who were duped into updating or changing their payment information by a fraudulent service provider. In August 2022, detectives assigned to Electronic Financial Crime Unit began looking at Winston Dougan as a potential suspect in a fraud case where a victim in Illinois was scammed into sending a $192,987 wire transfer via…

ATLANTA – State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick (D-Lithonia) will attend the National Future Summit, a conference for Gen Z and millennial lawmakers, hosted by Future Caucus July 24-27 in Washington, D.C. The National Future Summit, now in its eighth year, is a premier event for young bipartisan lawmakers to connect, explore innovative policy solutions, workshop legislative approaches, meet policy experts and develop strategies for bipartisan victories. “As the co-founder of the Georgia Future Caucus with former Rep. Michael Caldwell, it’s always exciting to see the mission of the Future Caucus moving forward toward a more bipartisan and collaborative world,” said Rep.…

ATLANTA – The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus (GLBC), chaired by State Rep. Carl Gilliard (D-Savannah), will host its annual legislative conference, with several events taking place Aug. 2 –4 in Atlanta. This year’s conference theme is “Redeeming the Soul of America, Testing, 1, 2, 3.” The event schedule is as follows: Black Roundtable Kick-Off Event – Friday, August 2, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the Atlanta Metropolitan College. GLBC Unity Breakfast – Saturday, August, 3, 2024, at 9 a.m. at the Atlanta Metropolitan College. GLBC Empowerment Luncheon, with key-note speaker, U.S. Rep. Jasmin Crockett (D-TX) – Saturday, August 3, at 12…

DEKALB COUNTY, GA–The DeKalb County Human Services Department is recruiting volunteers to participate in a tutoring program designed to help DeKalb students improve their reading skills. Volunteers  are needed to partner with the American Association of Retired Persons Experience Corps Program. The tutors will begin working with students in kindergarten through third grade in September for the 2024/2025 school year. Since 2019, the DeKalb County Department of Human Services has been working in collaboration with the United Way of Greater Atlanta, the AARP Foundation and the DeKalb County School District on this initiative. The tutoring program is designed to improve reading proficiency…

DECATUR, GA – The DeKalb County Department of Innovation and Technology has restored access to all county systems impacted by the global CrowdStrike IT outage, officials announced Friday afternoon. Businesses worldwide were impacted as cybersecurity giant CrowdStrike experienced a major disruption early Friday after conducting a  technology update. The glitch created chaos across the globe impacting financial and government services, airline travel, doctors’ offices and a myriad of other disruptions. CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said the problems said the problem was not related to a  security issue, posting on social media: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated…