Author: On Common Ground News

There will be a Virtual Celebration of Life Homegoing Service on Tuesday,June 16, 1 p.m. Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home is handling the service. Use this link to take you to the Tribute Page of the Live Link and Condolence Posts: https://www.levettfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Barbara-Jones-70/ Scroll down and click the Video Link (picture of a video reel) which states: “Gregory B. Levett & Sons Funeral Home created a video in memory of Barbara Jones.

Pictured (L-R): Attorneys Harold Spence and Mawuli Mel Davis On June 12, 2019 while running from police after being suspected of smoking marijuana, Jaylin Hughes was tased while climbing the top of a fence by a former Lieutenant of the City of McDonough Police Department, Douglas Miller. Following this incident, Hughes spent several weeks at The Shepherd Center, where he was diagnosed with quadriplegia. On Tuesday, June 16, at 2 p.m., the family of Hughes, 20, will hold a virtual press conference to discuss the released video footage which captures the incident immediately after his tasing and the filing of a lawsuit against Miller…

Pictured (L-R): Congressmen Hank Johnson and Congressmen Jamie Raskin WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today (June 15), Congressmen Hank Johnson (GA-04) and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) introduced The Bivens Act, legislation that ensures citizens can recover damages for Constitutional violations committed against them by federal law enforcement officials, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Transportation Security Administration (TSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Justice (DOJ) and federal prison officials. Almost 50 years ago, the Supreme Court recognized in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics that the Constitution authorizes a remedy for civil damages against…

Pictured (L-R): Incumbent Pam Dickerson and challenger Sharon Henderson ROCKDALE COUNTY SPECIAL MEETING, JUNE 17, 2020, 9:30AM  PUBLIC INVITED TO ATTEND   The Rockdale County Board of Elections will hold a Special Meeting on Wednesday, June 17, 2020 at 9:30 a.m., for the purpose of certifying the results of the General Primary/Nonpartisan/Special and Presidential Primary Elections and to consider a recount request for House District 113. Incumbent Pam Dickerson and challenger Sharon Henderson are vying for the House District 113 seat. Henderson received 5,689 votes (50.70%), while Dickerson received 5,531 votes (49.30%), according to unofficial results as of June…

Be Someone Inc., the Stone Mountain-based youth development organization that has taught over 75,000 youths how to make the right moves in their lives by learning how to play chess, has been named to the lineup of virtual summer camps offered by DeKalb County. Registration is now open for the six-week “Chess for Success” program, which will be held Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., June 22—July 27. Classes are designed for ages 8 – 18 and are free. Be Someone’s Executive Director Orrin Hudson, who has traveled the country teaching his program, is excited about the…

ATLANTA— Protestors have set fire to the Wendy’s tonight, demanding justice for Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old black man who was shot and killed by a white police officer late Friday(June 12). Not far from the Wendy’s, demonstrators and police are at a standoff just south of downtown Atlanta, where they have shut down I-75. Brooks had fallen asleep in his car at a Wendy’s drive-through, causing other customers to drive around him, according to authorities. Police were dispatched to the Wendy’s around 10:30 p.m. and conducted a sobriety test, which police said Brooks failed. Brooks attorney,…

Runoffs in Clerk of Courts, BOE Post 5 races set Aug. 11 Rockdale County Supervisor of Elections Cynthia Willingham said that the outstanding ballots from the June 9 Elections were counted on Friday, June 12. Willingham said she made the decision for the remaining absentee and provisional ballots to be counted on Friday instead of the announced date of Monday, June 15, after a flood of calls from candidates and the community who were concerned about results in close races. The sheer volume of outstanding mail-in absentee ballots—nearly 800 of them—was a very tedious process to complet, in such a short amount…

DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson has sponsored a resolution for the Georgia General Assembly to support the passage of HB 426 (Hate Crime Bill).  The DeKalb County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the resolution. The Georgia General Assembly is scheduled to reconvene on June 15, after suspending its session on March 14 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Commissioner Larry Johnson said the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners (BOC) is committed to preserving the rights of all crime victims and is expressly opposed to bigotry and prejudice in any form. “As county leaders we are the conveners and catalyst to help…

STONE MOUNTAIN—Freedom Middle School will be distributing USDA food boxes to Clarkston/Stone Mountain families on Wednesday, June 17, 9-12 noon at Freedom Middle School. Families can drive through to pick up food boxes.

No booking photo of the suspect available.  Authorities did not have a booking photo of Elijah Singleton available.    The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, working with the U. S. Marshals, has arrested a suspect in the assault of a woman and kidnapping of her child. Sheriff’s investigators  arrested Emmanuel Elijah Singleton, 26, of Scottdale, Georgia on Friday, June 12, on warrants charging him with Aggravated Assault, Kidnapping, and Motor Vehicle Theft. According to warrants issued on June 11, Singleton stabbed Morgan Alexander Byrd-Holmes several times at a Brockett Road apartment before stealing her vehicle with the victim’s…