Author: On Common Ground News

All Gwinnett County government offices, with the exception of those operations required for the comfort and safety of residents, will be closed Nov. 26 – 27 for the Thanksgiving holiday. County offices will resume normal business hours Nov. 30, 2020. A Magistrate Court judge will be available at the Gwinnett County Detention Center during the holiday. Thursday, Nov. 26, is a trash and recycling holiday for residents living in unincorporated Gwinnett County. Collection scheduled on that day will be rescheduled to Friday, Nov. 27 and Friday collection will be rescheduled to Saturday, Nov. 28. Only Thursday and Friday collections will…

The DeKalb Board of Registration and Elections meeting for the purpose of conducting its normal monthly business, previously scheduled for Friday, Nov. 13, 2020, will be held on Monday, Nov. 30,  4:30 p.m. This meeting will be conducted via teleconference (Zoom). Simultaneous public access to the meeting will be available via livestream on DCTV’s UStream channel https://video.ibm.com/channel/dctv-channel-23. Public comment may be submitted by sending an email of one page or less to electionspubliccmnt@dekalbcountyga.gov which must be received between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. The body of the email must include the commenter’s first and…

DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections (DeKalb VRE) announced early voting dates and times for Georgia’s 5th Congressional District special election runoff between Kwanza Hall and Robert Franklin to serve the remainder of the late Congressman John Lewis’ term. Early voting for the special election runoff begins Nov. 9 and concludes Nov. 25 and is available Monday–Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., with Saturday voting on Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. DeKalb voters residing in the 5th Congressional District can cast their ballots in person, by mail or by drop boxes in and around the district during the designated…

The DeKalb County Board of Ethics will conduct a board meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 4:30 p.m.  The meeting will be held via Zoom (details below): Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://dekalbcountyga.zoom.us/j/85360021617 Or Telephone: USA 602 333 0032 USA 8882709936 (US Toll Free) Conference code: 171493 Find local AT&T numbers:  https://www.teleconference.att.com/servlet/glbAccess?process=1&accessNumber=6023330032&accessCode=171493 AGENDA: Call to Order Adoption of Agenda III.        Review and Approve Meeting Minutes from August 9, 2018 Statement from Litigation Counsel regarding disposition of pending litigation (Sharon Barnes Sutton vs. Stacey Kalberman et al) and the Ethics Board authority to hold this meeting Presentation of Open…

The Rockdale County Board of Education (BOE) was recently selected by the Georgia School Boards Association (GSBA) for the Leading Edge Award for the second consecutive year, which highlights school districts that are leading the way in ensuring students are competitive in an ever-changing global market. The Rockdale County BOE was recognized for its innovative Early Learning initiatives and will be honored during the Georgia School Boards Association / Georgia School Superintendents Association Virtual Annual Conference, December 3-4, 2020. “We are thrilled to be recognized for the second consecutive year with the GSBA Leading Edge Award,” said BOE Chairwoman Mandy…

Gov. Brian P. Kemp delivered the following remarks regarding the results of the 2020 election in Georgia on Nov. 20: “Good afternoon. COVID-19 has introduced numerous challenges to county and state elections officials as they work to keep Georgia elections secure, accessible, and fair. Given the record number of absentee ballots and narrow margin in the November 3rd election for president in Georgia, I joined many in backing a hand recount and urging a thorough investigation into any voting irregularities. The Secretary of State oversaw a complete audit which revealed significant errors made in several counties, including: Floyd, Fayette, Douglas,…

DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson in partnership with the DeKalb County Board of Health and the DeKalb County Department of Community Development will host two free flu vaccinations this fall for DeKalb’s homeless population. The first vaccination will take place on Saturday, Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., at one of DeKalb County’s COVID-19 homeless hotels, the Quality Inn & Suites, 5300 Snapfinger Park Drive, Decatur. The second vaccination will occur on Dec. 5, 9 to 11 a.m., at Decatur Cooperative Ministry, 115 Church St., Decatur, and from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at Threshold Ministry, 218 Sycamore St.,…

Sam Tillman, chairman of the DeKalb County Board of Voter Registrations A DeKalb County elections employee has been fired after an internal review found that the manager’s failure to follow protocols in the state mandated ballot recount verification, which resulted in an inaccurate tally. Sam Tillman, chairman of the DeKalb County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, read the following statement today (Nov. 20) at a special called board meeting, which was held virtually: “It has come to our attention that a DeKalb VRE manager, who is now a former employee, failed to follow our established protocols and blatantly disregarded the…

ATLANTA—Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Labor today announced that Georgia’s unemployment rate in October dropped 1.8%, bringing the current unemployment rate to 4.5%, down more than 8% since the state’s all-time high in April 2020 and below the national average. “Thanks to our measured approach to the pandemic, fighting for people and their paychecks, Georgia continues to lead the nation in economic recovery as the fight with COVID-19 continues,” said Gov. Brian Kemp. “As the No. 1 State for Business eight years in a row, we’ve been able to avoid draconian budget cuts, secure our AAA…