Author: On Common Ground News

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,…

The zoning workshop will be held Dec. 3, 2020, 6 to 8 p.m., via the city’s YouTube Channel. View full details on the Zoning Ordinance Update:  https://www.stonecrestga.gov/StonecrestZoningOrdinanceUpdate.aspx View live meeting on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp3rYzHzhZvd9Y7Ruf1O6kg

Attorney Gary W. Washington has been appointed as Associate Judge of the Rockdale County Probate Court by the Chief Probate Judge, Clarence Cuthpert, Jr. Washington is licensed to practice law in Georgia and South Carolina. He has more than 30 years of litigation experience. Washington received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ohio Wesleyan University and his Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey where he served as Editor of the Rutgers Law Review. After law school, Washington began his legal career as a judicial law clerk for his mentor and renowned civil…

STONECREST—Mayor pro tem George Turner announced the community subdivisions that won the city’s 2020 Census campaign competition at the Nov. 23 City Council meeting, which was held virtually. Turner, who represented the city of Stonecrest on DeKalb County’s Complete Count 2020 Census effort, said the top three communities with the most residents to complete the critical census would each receive a plaque and banner honoring their efforts. Turner said the city held the competition to encourage community participation in completing the mandatory 2020 U.S. Census.   In addition to honoring the winners, Turner thanked all of the subdivisions throughout the city…

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…