Author: On Common Ground News

This serves as notice of a Special Called Meeting of the City Council on April 12th, 2021 at 5:30pm. The agenda, agenda packet and notice is attached.

ATLANTA—On April 12, two westbound lanes on DeKalb Industrial Way at Lawrenceville Highway will be closed from Monday at 9 p.m. to Wednesday, April 14 at 9 p.m., while crews work to decommission an old water line which was recently replaced with a new larger line. Crews will also pave the road. This section of DeKalb Industrial Way will reopen at 9 p.m., Wednesday, April 14.

The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, with other local law enforcement agencies, has arrested the second suspect in the Easter Sunday murder and armed robbery of a 19-year-old and 17-year old at a Brookhaven apartment complex. Bre’ On Harold Corbin, 17, was arrested on Tuesday, April 6, during a traffic stop near his residence in Lawrenceville. Corbin is charged with the April 4 murder in the shooting death and armed robbery of Domingo Paco-Camacho, 19, and armed robbery against Kevin Daniel Pano-Galvez, 17, both of Brookhaven. The first suspect, Jervano Johnson, 19, of Norcross, was arrested Sunday night…

Family and friends will celebrate the life of Ann Brown on Monday, April 12, 1 p.m., at Donald Trimble Mortuary Chapel, 1876 Second Ave., Decatur, GA. The homegoing service will be held in person with a limit of 50 people attending, but will be lived streamed by Donald Trimble Mortuary for the community at-large. Brown, who was fondly nicknamed the “Mayor of Belvedere because of her unwavering dedication to the community where she lived,” passed away on Saturday, April 3 after illness. She had suffered a brain aneurism a year ago and began having medical difficulty…

THE STONECREST CITY COUNCIL WILL HAVE A SPECIAL CALLED MEETING ON APRIL 7, 2021, AT 7 P.M. THE VIRTUAL MEETING WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC VIA THE STONECREST YouTube PAGE.

The  DeKalb County Chapter of the 100 Black Men of America, Inc. (100BMOD) welcomed a new class of members at its 2021 Spring induction in March: Jeremy Abernathy, Muddessar Ahmad, Omari Crawford, Joshua Davis, Reginald Fortson, Roger Harris, Johnston Pope, Art Roman and George Shealey, Jr. Family, friends and other 100 members witnessed the swearing-in ceremony during the socially distanced event, which was held at Fernbank Museum. Also recognized during the ceremony were members of the Fall 2020 class including: Phillip Battle, DeKalb County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw,  Pastor Jamal Bryant, and Roderick Cunningham. The board of directors spoke highly…

By Lance Hammonds Chair of the Rockbridge Coalition The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement produces an annual “Report Card” that tracks several factors that impact student achievement in Georgia. The report card is designed to provide information to educators, parents, students, and all stakeholders with valuable information and challenges us to improve education for all the children in our community. I struggled with this information because I do not believe it properly reflects the hard work and dedication of our teachers and staff. But this is the information that the state of Georgia posts on their website regarding…

South DeKalb County community activist Ann Brown, who was fondly nicknamed the “Mayor of Belvedere,” has passed away. “We lost a great community leader this weekend,” said DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson. “She was an advocate of the people and loved her neighborhood, Belverdere. She helped get Avondale Mall torn down and revitalized by bringing the Wal-mart in, 400 new jobs, and the Healthy Belverdere Project with Kaiser that focused on healthy eating and active \living.” Johnson said Brown also pushed for improvements at Shoal Creek Park, the streetscscape on Memorial Drive and successfully fought to have a strip…

The Gwinnett Newton Rockdale (GNR) Health Department has announced that COVID-19 vaccination appointments are now being administered by the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). To schedule an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, Rockdale residents can visit https://www.gnrhealth.com/covid-vaccine-scheduling/ or https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine. Residents can also text ‘VAX’ to 1-844-554-4024 to be notified of any appointment openings nearby. When using the web links or the text function, there will be a series of questions to answer. If using the GNR website, computer users will be automatically forwarded to the DPH website. For residents who prefer to make an appointment by phone,…

DECATUR, GA—Mental health, racial equity, strengthening the community, and rebuilding the public health workforce are just some of the focus areas for this year’s observance of National Public Health Week , April 5-11. As the COVID-19 pandemic passes its first full year, it has revealed significant challenges and opportunities in public health in DeKalb County, the district’s health director says. “The pandemic has simply magnified issues that have plagued public health for several decades,” said District Health Director S. Elizabeth Ford, M.D. “For many years, we’ve worked with a reduced workforce and reduced funding, not only locally, but across the country. The inequities in access…