Author: On Common Ground News

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Hank Johnson, a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, unveiled the list of five projects included in the Investing in a New Vision for the Environment and Surface Transportation (INVEST) in America Act. The INVEST Act is a five-year, $547 billion surface transportation reauthorization bill that is being marked up and voted out of the Transportation Committee (T&I) this week. Johnson’s projects will bring nearly $20 million in transportation improvements to Georgia’s Fourth Congressional District that will improve safety, equity, and help respond to the climate crisis by investing in transit…

Pictured left: Director Bettye Davis directs visitors at the Lou Walker Senior Center during a COVID-19 vaccination event on Jan. 13, 2021. Photo by Glenn L. Morgan/ocgnews.com   STONECREST, GA—DeKalb County’s Lou Walker Senior Center, 2538 Panola Road Stonecrest, has earned the distinction as a Nationally Accredited Senior Center of Excellence by the National Council on Aging’s National Institute of Senior Centers. The National Council on Aging (NCOA) offers the nation’s only National Senior Center Accreditation Program. There are nine standards of excellence that senior center operations must meet to obtain this accreditation and the Lou Walker Senior Center…

DECATUR, GA – DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with DeKalb’s Roads and Drainage Division and the Toco Hill-Avis G. Williams Library, has successfully installed two StoryWalks® and a story scavenger hunt located in the Mason Mill Park, 1346 McConnell Drive, Decatur, GA, 30033. For DeKalb County families looking for socially distanced, self-guided activities, Mason Mill Park, 1346 McConnell Drive, Decatur  is a great place to start. The community can enjoy two StoryWalks® that will include picture books installed on signposts along popular walking routes throughout the park and engage in a story scavenger hunt…

Decatur resident Maurisia Stancil has created a lovely, peaceful oasis where she can relax. Her culinary container garden offers sunflowers, basil, thyme, rosemary and tomatoes—all the ingredients needed for a summer sunset dinner—just steps from the kitchen. Photo By Mackenzie N. Morgan

Redan High senior Justin Whitening leads the pack as academic and youth leadership standout  By Mark Brock DCSD Athletics Specialist Ten athletes and one coach in the DeKalb County School District have earned honors as Atlanta/DeKalb Regional Positive Athlete winners for the 2020-21 school year from the Georgia Branch of Positive Athlete. Positive Athlete recognizes athletes for overcoming adversity, giving back to their school and communities in significant ways and for their infectious positive attitudes that makes those around them better on and off the field. Athletes are nominated by their coaches, parents, teachers, family members and fans. The organization…

Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson DECATUR, GA—Discover DeKalb has retained C.H. Johnson Consulting Inc. to engage in a comprehensive market analysis for the feasibility of a new event and hospitality epicenter, which may include a convention/conference center, performing arts center, and hotel. Johnson Consulting will be joined by TVS Design, an Atlanta-based architecture and design firm, for the study, which was made possible by discretionary funds of DeKalb Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson. Last week, Johnson Consulting kicked off the project with a countywide tour and meetings with various stakeholders, including the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners, the DeKalb County Board of…

L-R: Quandarius Patrick and  Michael Fleming By Mark Brock DCSD Athletics Specialist Quandarius Patrick gives up gold medal to competitor, sparks emotional moment for fans DEKALB COUNTY, GA—Quandarius Patrick, a senior at DeKalb County School District’s (DCSD) Towers High School, demonstrated the ultimate example of sportsmanship after winning the second running of the Class 2A Boys’ State 110-meter hurdles on May 15 at McEachern High School. Patrick surprised those in attendance as he pulled Oglethorpe County sophomore Michael Fleming up to the top of the podium and switched…

By Al Chatman DeKalb County resident Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. often quoted William Cullen Bryant in saying, “Truth crushed to earth shall rise again;” then he would add, “A lie cannot live forever.” It appears that some members of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association(SMMA) and some Georgia legislators are trying to prove that these adages are wrong. They want us to believe that they can forever perpetuate the untruths promoted by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and other regressive organizations.  They want us to disregard the truth and believe that a lie can live forever. We…