Author: On Common Ground News

GWINNETT COUNTY, GA– The Board of Commissioners approved several County initiatives during its latest meetings. Here is a glance at some of the actions taken:  Grant funds help turn biosolids into fertilizer Gwinnett County’s efforts to maintain a sustainable environment will grow. The Department of Water Resources will apply for a grant through the USDA’s Fertilizer Production Expansion Program. The grant application of $21,250,000 will be used toward the design and construction of a biosolids dryer at the F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center, which will significantly reduce the volume of biosolids generated at the facility, officials said. The biosolids will…

ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA – Rockdale County Emergency Management Agency will open a warming this weekend for those in need. The agency is urging the public to help spread the word that Rockdale is offering shelter to those who need a place to keep warm. Although the first day of Winter is Wednesday, Dec. 20, Georgia is bracing for temperatures that are expected to drop well below freezing into the teens this weekend. Rockdale’s warming center will be open fDec. 22-26 at J.P. Carr Gym, 90 Hardin St. S.W., Conyers. The center will be open evenings from 7 p.m. to 7…

CONYERS, GA—Conyers Rockdale Council for the Arts (CRCA) plans to roll out a jazz series as part of a new music and performance program it is launching in 2023. The jazz series will be held in the CRCA Black Box Theater beginning in January. CRCA has also created Inspiration Theater, which will include theatrical performances, community outreach and community education to inspire awareness, discourse, and ultimately positive social change. The first two performances will be Heaven In Chains in March 2023 and The Bench in August 2023. “We were able to re-start Theater Out of the Box, our theater education program for citizens with disabilities,…

CARTERSVILLE, GA—Visitors will gain greater insight about the Muscogee tribes and how they lived, as state officials work  to transform a museum and the Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site in Cartersville, GA.   The Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) announced that it will begin  returning artifacts to the culturally-affiliated tribes and transforming the site and museum in January 2023. Between 1954 and 1973, archaeologists working for the state excavated all of Mound C, the main burial mound, and other areas throughout this sacred site. Since the early 1960s, hundreds of ancestral Muscogee property including artifacts and funerary belongings…

DECATUR, GA– The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office today terminated a DeKalb Jail detention officer moments before his arrest by another agency on shoplifting charges. Jason Sidberry, 38, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, had been a detention officer with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office since March, 2022. He was terminated for Violation of the Law and arrested on the job by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office on four counts of Theft by Shoplifting. According to warrants, Sidberry stole merchandise from a Walmart store in Gwinnett County on several occasions. Sidberry was taken into custody by Gwinnett County deputies at the DeKalb Sheriff’s Office…

CONYERS, GA—Family, friends and dignitaries gathered on Saturday, Dec. 17, to celebrate the life of Michael Eugene McClinton, former owner of Robert’s Soul Food restaurant, located in the city of Stonecrest. Mr. McClinton, 66, passed away on Dec. 5, after battling a rare form of cancer for a year, his family said. Six-year-old Kennedi Ray, Mr. McClinton’s only grandchild, stood out among the crowd of adults as the family entered the sanctuary for the homegoing service, which was held at Crawfordville Baptist Church in Conyers. Kennedi, wearing a navy blue dress and white cape, placed a love letter in the…

DEKALB COUNTY, GA– DeKalb County is extending the opening of warming centers due to nightly temperatures expected in the low 30s through Tuesday. Officials had previously announced warming centers would be open through Dec. 16-18. With the cold weather pattern continuing, residents who need shelter may use the following locations on Dec. 18-20, beginning at 8 p.m.: Fire Station 3, 100 N. Clarendon Avenue, Avondale Estates, GA 30002 Fire Station 4, 4540 Flakes Mill Road, Ellenwood, GA 30294 Fire Station 6, 2342 Flat Shoals Road, Atlanta, GA 30316 North DeKalb Senior Center, 3393 Malone Drive, Chamblee, GA 3034 Anyone staying…

DECATUR, GA—More than 700 children received Christmas gifts on Saturday, Dec. 17, at DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson’s 24th Annual Tree of Love. An army of smiling volunteers braved the chilly, rainy weather to be part of this year’s event, passing out presents during a drive-through at the Porter Sanford Performing Arts Center in Decatur. said the community event is one that he looks forward to every year as people in the community “adopt” needy children and young people for the holidays by fulfilling their wishes for requested Christmas gifts. “It’s about giving back and recognizing our community neighbors and…

STONECREST—District 3 City Councilwoman Alecia Washington took the oath of office during a public ceremony and celebration on Friday, Dec. 16. Washington was previously sworn in during a private ceremony by U.S. Federal Judge Eleanor Ross at the Richard B. Russell Federal Building in Atlanta on Nov. 17. At the community celebration, Washington thanked her family and supporters for her Nov. 8 election victory. She filled the unexpired term of Jazzmin Cobble, who stepped down and was elected mayor. Washington told supporters that she is eager to serve. She promised to push for improvements in District 3 including inviting residents…