Author: On Common Ground News

STONECREST–DeKalb County police are investigating a fatal shooting at the Walmart on Fairington Road in the city of Stonecrest. The shooting took place on Sunday, April 19, at 7;45 p.m. in the parking lot. DeKalb police responding to the scene found one victim, Jeremiah Smith, 22, suffering from a gunshot wound in the parking lot. Smith died at a local hospital. According to police, the suspect and the victim got into an argument in the store and it ended in the parking lot where shots were fired. Police have not identified the suspect. The investigation is ongoing.

Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) congratulates its valedictorians and salutatorians of the Class of 2020. The valedictorians and salutatorians were notified in a surprise announcement on April 17 with administrators, counselors and teachers driving to each student’s home with a sign. Rockdale students, like other students across the state of Georgia, were ordered to stay at home and learn online amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The eight students will lead their senior classes in graduation ceremonies. All of the following dates are pending COVID-19 pandemic conditions: Salem High School’s graduation is scheduled for Wednesday, June 24, 7:30 p.m., at SHS. Rockdale…

The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) is extending the deadline for new applications for the 2020 Roadside Enhancement and Beautification Council (REBC) Grant program (formerly known as the GATEway Grant program). The new application deadline is May 15. The REBC grant program provides funding for enhancement and beautification projects along Georgia’s roadsides. Since 2008, the Georgia DOT has awarded 148 grants totaling more than $5 million dollars for the grant program to governments and community improvement districts around the state. The grant program uses revenue from contributory value fees paid by outdoor advertising companies to the Georgia DOT for vegetation removal in…

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond, DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson DeKalb launches ‘It’s Not Too Late’ to be counted   DeKalb County is launching the “It’s Not Too Late” campaign to inform residents that they still have time to complete the 2020 Census. Currently, 49.2 percent of DeKalb’s households have completed the 2020 Census in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond is pushing for 100 percent of county households to complete the census questionnaire. “If every household is counted, DeKalb County could receive $1.8 billion in federal funds annually for the next 10 years,” Thurmond said.…

ATLANTA— Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced this afternoon during a televised press conference that barbershops, salons, gyms, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors, spas and other indoor facilities will be permitted to reopen on Friday, easing restrictions due to COVID-19. Dine-in restaurants and movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27, while houses of worship are asked to continue to comply with social distancing orders, if they choose to open. Nightclubs and bars, however, remain under a ban. Kemp did not mention department sores or malls during the press conference. Georgia’s shelter in place order remains in effect through…

EFFECTIVE MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2020- To prioritize essential transit service, MARTA is reducing bus service to the 41 routes listed below. OPERATIONAL BUS ROUTES BEGINNING 4/20/2020 2  4  5  6  15  19  21  26  39  40  42  49  50  51  60  71  73  78  82  83  84  86  89  95  102  107  110  111  117  120  121  172  178  185  186  191  192  193  196  816  Including Oakley Industrial Circulator ALL OTHER BUS ROUTES WILL BE SUSPENDED Bus customers will enter and exit using the rear doors only, except for customers who require the accessibility ramp. MARTA is suspending fare…

Torinto Antoine Christian, the 35-year-old Decatur resident who escaped last week after he was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital, has been arrested. After a brief foot pursuit, DeKalb County sheriff’s investigators apprehended Christian without incident at a gas station on Moreland Avenue in Atlanta. Christian was arrested on Monday, April 13, and booked into the DeKalb County Jail. Investigators say that Christian had asked for medical assistance while in his cell and was transported to Grady, where he slipped out of his handcuffs and fled. Christian was originally arrested on warrants charging him with kidnapping and aggravated assault.  

Rockdale County Public Schools (RCPS) has released its  End of the Year Guide 2019-2020 with  protocols for grades, transcripts, retention/promotion, graduation, prom, student registration and more. Families are strongly encouraged to read the RCPS End of the Year Guide at www.rockdaleschools.org/COVID19. Important dates include: May 7 – Last day of Independent Learning Days (last day of school online for students). May 14 – Last day to turn in assignments May 22 – Last day of school for 190-day employees (such as teachers). Meal Routes – RCPS Mobile Meal Routes will continue through the summer until July 24. For meal delivery…

South DeKalb community activist Kenneth Saunders III has passed away. Saunders died from COVID-19, said Kathryn Rice, who worked closely with Saunders as part of the South DeKalb Improvement Association. Rice, an advocate who pushed for the incorporation of a new city called Green Haven, announced Saunders death tonight in an email. Saunders was in his 40s “It is still hard to believe,” Rice said in the e-mail. Saunders was vice president of the Hidden Hills Civic Association. He served on the county’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the DeKalb Parks Bond Advisory Committee. Saunders ran for the…

  Kemp urges Congress to provide more funding for Paycheck Protection Program  ATLANTA—Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp is calling on Congress to pass additional funding for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which ran out of money this week. The $349 billion Small Business Administration’s (SBA) PPP program,  launched on April 3, was supposed to help small businesses on the brink of collapsing amid COVID-19 pandemic. On Thursday, April 16, the bad news came: The money to save America’s 30.2 million small businesses dried up. Gov. Kemp issued the following statement on Friday, April 17: “While businesses across the United…