Author: On Common Ground News

The family of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, who was shot to death on July 4 outside of a southwest Atlanta Wendy’s restaurant, has placed two billboards seeking witnesses to come forward. The billboards read, “My name is Secoriea Turner. I was 8 years old when I was murdered. Protecting children is not snitching. Help my family identify who killed me. Please call with any information: 1-866-969-2004.” One of the billboards is located at I-75/85 and University Avenue, facing north on the east side of the street. The other billboard is at University Boulevard and Pryor Street facing east on the south side…

Pictured: Brandon Riley, City of Stonecrest Director of Parks and Recreation STONECREST—The deadline is nearing for residents to register for the City of Stonecrest’s free Household Hazardous Waste  event. The drive-through drop-off event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 29, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the parking lot of the former Sam’s Club, where the new City Hall will be located at 2994 Turner Hill Road. Registration for the free event, which is open to the first 200 participants, is available at  https://bit.ly/SChazardouswaste. Registration will be closed once capacity is…

In the second phase of “Project Safe Home,” the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office has arrested another 25 persons who had outstanding warrants in DeKalb County on domestic violence charges. The initial phase of the program on May 21 resulted in 20 arrests. “Project Safe Home” involved deploying sheriff’s deputies from the Field Operations Uniform and Domestic Violence Units throughout the county to endeavor on active felony and misdemeanor warrants for domestic violence offenses that were received since mid-March. All arrests were made without incident and suspects were transported to the DeKalb County Jail.

Conyers City Councilmember Gerald Hinesley is quarantining himself after being exposed last weekend to someone with the coronavirus, Mayor Vince Evans said. Evans told the City Council at its Aug. 29 meeting, which was live streamed, that Hinesley was self-quarantining out of “an abundance of caution while awaiting his COVID-19 test results.”

As Gwinnett County approaches the 2020 property tax season, Tax Commissioner Richard Steele is sharing information about what taxpayers can expect to see on their tax bills this year. The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners adopted its 2020 millage rates on Aug. 18. The new property tax for economic development, a tax of 0.3 mills, was included in the resolution.  According to the Board’s resolution, the new tax will “provide funds for financial assistance to the Development Authority of Gwinnett County for economic development purposes.” Also, according to the BOC resolution, taxpayers in unincorporated Gwinnett, and those in cities…

ATLANTA–Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced the City of Atlanta has allocated $22 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to the Atlanta COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program to provide housing support to Atlanta residents. Administered by United Way of Greater Atlanta, the program will provide rental, utility, and/or security deposit assistance to more than 6,700 City of Atlanta residents through a network of local service providers, who were selected through a Request for Proposal process. City of Atlanta residential renters who have experienced a loss of income because of COVID-19 will be able to receive assistance with the payment of…

By Vernon Jones We live in a nation where we are told racism is no longer tolerated. We often see entire careers ruined because statements people made decades ago are taken out of context. However, despite making racist comment after racist comment, Joe Biden always seems to get a pass. He has a record of making inflammatory comments toward black Americans throughout his entire political career, but Democrats and their allies in the mainstream media never bat an eye. We cannot allow those in power to cover for Joe Biden’s nasty history of racism anymore. It may bring back…

Two Rockdale County Commissioners say they have serious concerns about a $297,000 contract Chairman Oz Nesbitt is proposing to give an Atlanta company to supervise 56 children of county government workers for 82 days while the students attend classes virtually. Commissioner Sherri L. Washington and Doreen Williams say the contract was never put out for bid or presented to them for ratification by Nesbitt, who chairs the three-member Board of Commissioners. Nesbitt is proposing to give the contract to Positive Outcomes, LLC, which ran his five-day summer youth enrichment program in 2019. More than 30 rising sixth graders attended the…

Today, Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced that the State of Georgia successfully sold $1.133 billion in two different series of general obligation bonds to fund new construction projects and equipment, make repairs and renovations to existing facilities, and purchase and retire outstanding bonds to achieve debt service savings. “Georgia works diligently to maintain our coveted triple-A bond rating,” said Gov. Kemp. “I am incredibly proud of our state’s fiscal responsibility and efficient use of taxpayer resources, and I commend Lieutenant Gov. Geoff Duncan, Speaker David Ralston, and the General Assembly for their partnership to maintain Georgia’s strong financial track record.…