Author: On Common Ground News

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Gwinnett County Government will commemorate America’s fallen military and law enforcement heroes with a virtual Memorial Day ceremony on Memorial Day, May 25. Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash, District 4 Commissioner Marlene Fosque, and Ron and Caroline Buice of the Fallen Heroes Committee will deliver video remarks. Retired Marine Col. Parker Miller will be the keynote speaker. Miller is a Vietnam veteran who subsequently earned his flight wings and was assigned to an attack helicopter squadron that participated in multiple, shipboard deployments in the Mediterranean, Caribbean and North seas. He was a leading…

 William “Roddie” Bryan, who video recorded Ahmaud Arbery as he was gunned down, has been arrested and charged with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. Bryan will be booked into the Glynn County Jail, the GBI announced May 21. Bryan, 50, is the third white suspect arrested in connection with the murder of the 25-year-old unarmed black man. The murder occurred in Brunswick, GA on Feb. 23 but no arrests were made until the shooting gained national attention after the video went viral.   State Attorney General Chris Carr recently appointed Joyette Holmes, Cobb County’s first African-American female…

Photos By Will Thomas   Antioch AME Church, 4730 Elam Road, Stone Mountain, held its free food pantry and served as a COVID-19 testing site on May 19.  A long line of vehicles filled the campus for the event. Rhonda S. Taylor, who chairs Antioch’s Social Action Ministry and is a Candidate for Georgia House District 91, said MAJL Diagnostics  Laboratories provided the free COVID-19 viral and antibody testing to the uninsured and Medicare/Medicaid recipients. No appointments were needed.

In observance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 25, garbage, recyclable materials and yard trimmings collection for DeKalb County residential customers will run one day late as follows: Monday, May 25 – Memorial Day observed. No sanitation collection service. Tuesday, May 26 – Residential customers whose regularly scheduled collection day is Monday, May 25, will be serviced on Tuesday, May 26.  Wednesday, May 27 – Residential customers whose regularly scheduled collection day is Tuesday, May 26, will be serviced on Wednesday, May 27. Thursday, May 28 – Residential customers whose regularly scheduled collection day is Wednesday, May 27, will…

DECATUR—On May 26, a single southbound lane along Columbia Drive, between Forrest Boulevard and Walker Drive, will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. while crews repair 348 linear feet of ductile-iron sewer pipe. This section of Columbia Drive will reopen on Wednesday, May 27. The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management has initiated this construction project to address the repair needs of approximately 100,000 linear feet of sewer pipe as a part of ongoing maintenance to improve sewer service countywide. Motorists and MARTA passengers should expect delays stemming from the lane closure. Lane closure signs and traffic flaggers…

Gov. Brian P. Kemp today joined CVS Health to announce the launch of new COVID-19 testing sites in Georgia. On Friday, May 22, CVS Health will open 23 new COVID-19 test sites at select CVS Pharmacy drive-thru locations across the state. The opening of additional test sites across the state and country will be announced by the end of the month. These new sites will utilize self-swab tests and mark the next phase of the company’s nationwide COVID-19 testing strategy, announced April 27. CVS Health expects to have up to 1,000 locations across the country offering this service by…

The Rockdale County  Board of Elections will hold a special meeting on Friday, May 22, 10 a.m., to discuss the emergency temporary relocation of four voting precincts for the June 9 elections. The Flat Shoals, Hightower, Milstead and Stanton precincts are proposed to be temporarily relocated to the Rockdale Government Annex, 1400 Parker Road, Conyers. Attached is the board’s meeting agenda for Friday:

Bishop William “Papa” Sheals, senior pastor of Hopewell Baptist Church in Norcross, is recovering from undergoing heart surgery today(May 20) at Emory St. Joseph’s Hospital in Atlanta, a top official of the church said this evening. “Pastor Sheals is out of surgery. Everything went well. Thanks for your prayers,” Sheals’ personal assistant, Big John, text at 6:51 p.m. Sheals underwent surgery for heart artery blockage. Hundreds of people have reached out online to offer prayers for him. Hopewell Baptist, which has 17,000 members, celebrated Sheals’ 40th pastoral anniversary this month with a parade. The church had planned a gala but…