Author: On Common Ground News

CONYERS, GA–Recognizing the increasingly competitive job market, Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) is poised to increase wages for hundreds of classified personnel such as bus drivers, paraprofessionals, and school nutrition personnel. This is in addition to significant, across-the-board step and salary increases already implemented at the start of the 2021-2022 school year through an adjusted certified salary schedule and step increases for all employees. Effective Oct. 1, 2021, RCPS bus drivers and monitors, paraprofessionals and school nutrition personnel will see their salaries increase after Superintendent Terry Oatts directed the hikes in consultation with his Finance and Human Resources Divisions.…

STONECREST—DeKalb County Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson and Stonecrest Councilwoman Jazzmin Cobble are hosting a food distribution event on Saturday, Oct. 1, 9 to 11 a.m., at Ousley United Methodist Church, 3261 Panola Road, Stonecrest. Those in need are invited to receive a food box. Boxes will be filled with a variety of fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats will be provided while supplies last. Arrive early to secure your box.

DECATUR, GA—On Tuesday, Oct. 5, the DeKalb County Police Department will join community members and participate in the fall edition of National Night Out (NNO). Residents are asked to to turn on their front porch lights as a sign of unity. Celebrations will held in the following communities: East Precinct: Beacon Mountain Subdivision, 4 p.m., 4661 Lantern Ct., Lithonia Pepperwood Subdivision, 5 p.m., Pepperwood Lane, Stone Mountain Deer Creek Subdivision, 4 p.m., 690 Malvern Blvd, Stone Mountain South Precinct: Cove Lake Estates, 5:30 p.m., 1880 Cedar Grove Rd., Conley Tucker Precinct: Les Chateau, 5:30 p.m., 4113 Rue Antoinette, Stone Mountain San Souci,…

DECATUR, GA—The DeKalb County Board of Health’s Doraville MARTA station vaccination site, located at 6000 New Peachtree Road, in Doraville, will be closed on Saturday, Oct. 2. The closure is necessary to provide additional staffing resources to provide COVID-19 vaccinations for the event at The Mall at Stonecrest, taking place from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The DeKalb County Board of Health, along with DeKalb County Government, DeKalb Fire Rescue, Emory Healthcare and MedCura Health are partnering for this event. Everyone will have a choice of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines. Additionally, those who are eligible and have completed their…

STONECREST, GA—Mayor Jason Lary is urging those who haven’t received their COVID-19 vaccination to get their shot this weekend in the city of Stonecrest. “The only way we’re going to defeat the pandemic is by getting vaccinated,” Lary said. DeKalb County, Emory Healthcare and DeKalb County Fire Rescue will administer voluntary COVID-19 vaccinations to anyone 12 years of age and older at the former Sears parking lot at The Mall at Stonecrest on Saturday, Oct. 2, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. All persons receiving a vaccination also will receive a $100 prepaid debit card. Lary, a three-time cancer…

By Congressman Hank Johnson, Georgia District 4 It’s simple, the people of South DeKalb are no less deserving of high-quality public transportation than anyone else. And despite public commitments to expand MARTA’s heavy rail system into South DeKalb, there has been no progress. It is time to recommit ourselves to expanding MARTA’s heavy rail transit line to serve our community. This is the only sensible option to congested roads, pollution that disproportionately impacts Black and low-income communities, and to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions that are warming our planet and dangerously changing our climate. Heavy rail transit is also…

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Lt. Jeanelle Carmen Seals, a 2013 graduate of Decatur High School and 2017 U.S. Naval Academy graduate, is serving aboard USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21). She is giving back to the community where she is based by serving as a community volunteer during Minneapolis Navy Week, Sept. 26 – Oct. 2. She is pictured preparing meals for those in need. Seals is a Weapons Division Officer in charge of 40 sailors and a Surface Warfare Officer that navigates the ship. Seals’ brother was an inspiration for her to join the Navy four years ago. “My brother is a Captain in the Marine…

Authorities arrested Aqontise Phanique Glenn, 31, without incident on Sept. 24. Glenn is accused of shooting 36-year-old Christopher Copeland of Stockbridge, Georgia in the leg and head on Sept. 8 at an apartment complex on Columbia Drive in Decatur. Glenn is awaiting extradition to Georgia, where he will be held in the DeKalb County Jail.