Author: On Common Ground News

By Joel Edwards, President, Restore DeKalb Taxpayers of DeKalb County continue to demonstrate support for DeKalb County students’ success. However, it is evident that ongoing fiscal mismanagement has been rampant within the DeKalb County School District (DCSD) for a very long time. It is well documented that fraudulent activity has led to criminal convictions of a former Superintendent and Chief Operating officer and the firing of principals, teachers, and other staff. The discovery of previously unknown $40 million in capital funds, failure to report timely to the Georgia Department of Audits and Accounts (leading to the 2020 downgrade…

STONECREST—DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections (DeKalb VRE) is conducting the electronic recount of more than 373,000 ballots to meet the statewide mandated deadline by Dec. 2, 2020. The recount is underway at the future Stonecrest City Hall (former Sam’s Club), 2929 Turner Hill Road. The site is one of the county’s largest early voting precincts. “We’re planning on deploying a recount plan that looks very similar to the recent risk-limiting audit,” said DeKalb VRE Director Erica Hamilton. “We’re engaging the same partners, county departments and others to ensure we’re able to once again maintain the integrity of the process.”…

Dr. Heather Bradley, Principal Investigator ATLANTA—The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded an interdisciplinary team in Georgia State University’s School of Public Health a two-year, $1.3 million grant through its RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program to better understand barriers and motivations for participating in COVID-19 research among Black communities in Atlanta. The team will examine what kinds of things preclude people from participating in COVID-19 serostudies, which survey a large number of people for the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 antibody through a minimally invasive test, such as a finger prick. “Unfortunately, Black persons and other racial/ethnic minorities are less…

DECATUR—As the demand for COVID-19 testing continues to surge in DeKalb County, Georgia and throughout the country, the DeKalb County Board of Health is taking the opportunity to notify the community of an upcoming change in the COVID-19 specimen collection process. Beginning Saturday(Nov. 28) at the Stonecrest testing site, specimen collection will switch from a nurse administered test to a self-swab test. On Monday(Nov. 30), this switch will take place at the Doraville and East Atlanta testing sites. Health officials say that the change will help individuals to become more comfortable with getting tested, as the swab will not have…

In accordance with the DeKalb County Democratic Committee (DCDC) Bylaws, the Executive Committee announces elections for all odd-numbered Post Seat Holders at the general meeting on January 7, 2021. The following week on January 14, 2021, elections will take place for Executive Committee members and State Committee members for Congressional Districts 6 and 7. This notice is to give community members a chance to seek a position and/or to have a voice in the elections.  Further information is available on the DCDC’s web site, www.dekalbdems.com.

STONECREST—The City Council on Nov. 23  unanimously denied a request by 404 Concrete, LLC  to rezone 2.2 acres at 2547 Lithonia West Drive from M (light industrial) to M-2 (heavy industrial) for the operation of a concrete mixing plant. The vote was 5-0. Mayor Jason Lary was on sick leave and did not attend the meeting. The council reached its decision after holding a public hearing in which two residents submitted opposition letters that were read by Deputy City Clerk Sonya Isom during the virtual meeting. City staff had  recommended denial, saying the subject property is located within a light…

DECATUR—DeKalb County will activate the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) warning system on Wednesday, Nov. 24, to encourage residents and visitors to be safe during the Thanksgiving holiday. “Do not allow our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 be undermined during the Thanksgiving Day weekend,” DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said. “We must remain vigilant because the fight against the deadly pandemic is not over.” Since the pandemic began, DeKalb County has worked with its public and private partners to slow the spread of COVID-19 by distributing masks and sanitizer to residents and small businesses. The county also has encouraged businesses…

DECATUR—DeKalb County residents can pick up a COVID-19 care kit containing two non-surgical masks and hand sanitizer on Wednesday, Nov. 25. Beginning at 10 a.m. the kits will be available in the parking lot of the DeKalb County Police Department’s South Precinct, located at 2842 H. F. Shepherd Dr., Decatur. The county is distributing 10,000 care kits to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in the hardest-hit areas. DeKalb County Board of Health is supporting this initiative with the guidance that people will stay masked up, maintain social distancing, and continue to wash their hands frequently during the Thanksgiving holiday and…

ATLANTA—Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, along with the attorneys general of 45 other states and the District of Columbia, have agreed to a $17.5 million-dollar settlement with Georgia-based retailer, The Home Depot. The settlement resolves a multistate investigation of a 2014 data breach involving the payment card information of approximately 40 million Home Depot consumers nationwide. The State of Georgia will collect $356,366.24 through this settlement. “Our office will continue to do all we can to protect consumers and their personally identifiable information,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “It is important to remember that in a world where cybersecurity…

Story Update: DeKalb County Health Director Sandra  Ford has recommended against the city hosting an ice skating event for December 2020 due to the state’s increasing number of COVID-19 cases, City Parks Director Brandon Riley said on Nov. 30, 2020.   STONECREST— Brandon Riley, the city’s Parks and Recreation Director, said he would likely nix the idea of bringing an ice skating rink to the city for a two-day event in December. Riley said his department was looking at bringing Artificial Ice Events and its giant Snowman on Dec. 11-12 to the parking lot of the future Stonecrest City Hall,…