Author: On Common Ground News

LITHONIA, GA– On Tuesday, Aug. 29, District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson will host an informational town hall meeting focused on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) II. The meeting will be held at t6:30 p.m., at the East DeKalb Senior Center, 2449 Bruce Street, Lithonia. In November, voters will have an opportunity to consider SPLOST II and EHOST, which if passed collectively, would provide $1 billion in property tax relief to DeKalb homeowners. The relief would come from a proposed Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax (EHOST) credit for homeowners who qualify for a homestead exemption. If approved,…

By Mark Brock DCSD Athletics  Specialist The 2023 DeKalb County Schools middle school football season gets underway on Saturday morning in stadiums across DeKalb County. Due to the high temperatures and heat index expected on Saturday,  the game times have been moved up an hour for the safety of the athletes, coaches and staff.  All 10 a.m. games will start at 9 a.m. and all 11:30 a.m .games begin at 10:30 am. Stephenson plays host to McNair at Hallford Stadium at 10:30 a.m. to begin defense of the Jaguars’ 2022 county championship. Playoff participant Champion and semifinalist Lithonia open the…

DECATUR, GA—DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs youth basketball and cheerleading program registration is now open until Oct. 31. County youths ages 5 to 18 are invited to sign up for instructional or division basketball. The registration fee for the instructional league ages 5 to 6 is $25, $65 for ages 7 to 18 and will include one uniform. Cheerleading registration is $65 for ages 5 to 15 and will include one uniform and additional fees. The basketball and cheerleading programs begin Dec. 9. Practice dates and times for basketball and cheerleading programs will be determined by the recreation…

Rockdale County activist Josie Dean urges community to wear U.S. flag colors to show support  for Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA—Community activist Josie Dean is calling on the community to wear red, white and blue—the colors of the American flag—on Thursday, Aug. 24, as former president Donald Trump prepares to surrender to Fulton authorities. Trump and18 associates are charged in a lengthy indictment with attempting to overturn Georgia’s results in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is seat to come to Atlanta on Thursday, after agreeing to be processed at the…

ATLANTA –Georgia Representative Doreen Carter (D-Lithonia) hosted Senior Citizens Day in House District 93 on Monday, Aug. 21, at the East DeKalb Senior Center in Lithonia. Carter held the event to provide information and resources to the aging population in House District 93. “Protecting our senior adults is one of my highest priorities,” said Carter. “We must do everything in our power to ensure that they have the best quality of life.” At the event, R. Carter was joined by Nathan Coflin, Senior Medicare Patrol Outreach Specialist, to discuss Medicare and fraud prevention. Attendees learned about ways to protect their…

The qualifying period for the City of Stonecrest elections began on Monday, Aug. 21, and will end on Friday, Aug. 25. So far, Council member George Turner, District 4,  is the only incumbent who is not facing a challenger. Here are the candidates who have qualified ft so far:

DECATUR, GA—For the third consecutive year, DeKalb County Government has won national recognition as a top national leader leader in the innovative use of technology, including its work enhancing the county’s cyber security.  The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties (NACo) ranked DeKalb County second in the nation among counties with a population of 500,000 to 999,999 in the 19th annual Digital Counties Survey. Out of the 88 counties in this category, only three were from Georgia, including Gwinnett and Cobb that ranked seventh and ninth, respectively.    Since 2017, DeKalb County has been recognized annually…

DECATUR, GA– DeKalb County announced today(Aug. 22) that it is making recreation centers and libraries throughout the county available as cooling centers due to a heat advisory. As defined by the National Weather Service’s Peachtree City Forecast Office, a heat advisory is issued when “feels like” temperatures are expected to reach or be greater than 103 degrees, or when the actual air temperature is expected to be at 105 degrees or greater. All DeKalb County libraries and recreation centers will be available as cooling centers, during the locations’ normal business hours. For a list of DeKalb County recreation centers, visit www.dekalbcountyga.gov/weather. A…

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA – The Gwinnett County Police Department needs the public’s help in locating Jamel Leslie Cooke, 44, who is wanted for shooting a female at a local hotel. Cooke  has active warrants for Aggravated Assault, Armed Robbery, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of a Firearm during the Commission of a Felony, authorities said. His current location is unknown. Cooke is considered armed and dangerous. On Tuesday, Aug. 15, at around 12:00 p.m., officers assigned to the West Precinct were dispatched to a “person shot” call at 5945 Oakbrook Parkway in unincorporated Norcross. When…

CONYERS, GA. – Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) is honoring 104 students recently named 2023 Advanced Placement (AP) Scholars – including two AP Capstone Diploma recipients and one AP Seminar and Research Certificate recipient – for their outstanding performance on the 2022-2023 exams. This is an increase of 21 students from the previous year with all three of our high schools represented among AP Scholars. The percentage of RCPS students scoring 3 or higher also increased 5 percentage points over the previous year. “I commend our Advanced Academics Coordinator and her outstanding team to include our gifted specialist, school counselors, school…