Author: On Common Ground News

DeKalb County Schools Athletics is set to begin Phase 1 of the return to conditioning for varsity fall sports on Monday, June 22, under provisionS implemented by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) and the District. Coaches for football, cross country, softball and volleyball have been versed in online meetings on the guidelines set up by the GHSA and the DCSD Athletic Department/District Handbook (posted online at https://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/athletics/files/2020/06/DCSD-Return-to-Conditioning-Handbook-2020.pdf) to keep all athletes and coaches as safe as possible during the Covid19 pandemic. The principals and Athletic Liaisons at the individual schools have been informed of the protocols for this first…

In keeping with Georgia’s Open Meetings Act, this notification is to advise that members of the DeKalb Board of Education will participate in a Virtual Called Meeting, 10:30 a.m., Thursday, June 18, 2020.  The called meeting will adjourn to an executive session for the purpose of discussing permitted matters regarding personnel.  The virtual meetings can be viewed at the following link on DeKalb Schools TV (DSTV) by going to: www.dekalbschoolsga.org/communications/dstv, or Comcast channel 24 for Comcast subscribers in DeKalb County. Vision To inspire our community of learners to achieve educational excellence Mission To ensure student success, leading to higher education,…

The DeKalb County Board of Health will open a new COVID-19 testing site on Monday, June 22, to continue addressing health disparities identified in DeKalb ZIP codes. Added to the list of free testing sites is Greenforest Community Baptist Church,
3250 Rainbow Dr., Decatur. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. COVID-19 testing is free and open to all individuals who wish to be tested. A driver’s license or identification card is not required, however, registration in advance is strongly encouraged. Testing is also available at the following locations: Beulah Missionary Baptist Church,
2340 Clifton Springs Road,…

New lighting will be installed at two gateway intersections in Rockdale County: Interstate 20 Exit 78 (Sigman Road) and Interstate 20 Exit 84(Salem Road). The Rockdale County Board of Commissioners awarded the $2.72 million project to Brooks Berry Haynie & Associates., which will install the lighting over the next year. County officials said the project will provide safer, brighter and more economical LED lighting in the form of eight 120-foot-tall and seventeen 130-foot-tall high mast towers at the gateway intersections into Rockdale County.  These high mast lights will increase visibility and safety at both interchanges on I-20. …

On Friday, DeKalb County Government will partner with Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB), the City of Clarkston, Positive Peering Inc. and First African Community Development Corporation to provide 1,200 boxes of food to DeKalb residents. The event, hosted at two locations, is part of a $600,000 investment in ACFB to significantly increase the organization’s capacity to distribute food throughout the county. The June 19 event will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the following locations: First African Community Development Corporation Food Pantry at Big Miller Grove Baptist Church, 3800 Big Miller Grove Way, Stonecrest Tahoe Village Shopping…

ATLANTA—Gov. Brian Kemp announced today, June 16, that the major motion picture, television, and streaming companies plan to bring back and hire an estimated 40,000 production workers, who will be employed on an expected 75 production projects that will invest over $2 billion into the Georgia economy during the next 18 months. This includes plans by producers to purchase goods and services from over 17,000 small Georgia businesses, according to the Motion Picture Association-America, which compiled the data from its members. “The entertainment production industry is coming back and ready to jumpstart the Georgia economy by creating jobs and generating…

STONECREST—This Friday, June 19, Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance(AMHAA) will join Flat Rock Archives in celebrating Juneteenth, the holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the U.S. Flat Rock Archives Co-Founder and President Johnny Waits will host a live, virtual tour of the Flat Rock Historic Cemetery, where many blacks of the Flat Rock community,  including Waits’ descendants, are buried in the city of Stonecrest. To participate, you can watch a live video on our Facebook page. The first person to comment a question on the Facebook post will receive a free family tour of the Flat Rock Archives when…

Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced the appointment of Chris Wells Today (June 16), Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced the appointment of Chris Wells to serve as Executive Director of the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency. Wells recently served as irector of the Physical and Economic Development Division at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget. Prior to serving in that role, he held analyst positions in multiple government agencies, including the Georgia Department of Labor and the South Carolina Executive Budget Office. Wells currently serves as a member of Georgia’s Employee Benefit Plan Council, is a…

  Photo essay by Will Thomas/Special to On Common Ground News   ATLANTA—Photographer Will Thomas captured these images in the aftermath of protests for Rayshard Brooks, the latest black man to die at the hands of a white police officer. Protestors gathered  at the scene where the 27-year-old black father was fatally shot in the back by a white Atlanta police officer on June 12.  Only a shell of the Wendy’s was left.Makeshift memorials of balloons, flowers, and cards have been set up at the site. A “Black Lives Matter” T shirt was draped on one of thememorials. Demonstrators held posters of…