Author: On Common Ground News

STONECREST, GA. – Last night (July 1), city officials issued a stop-work order for the Metro Green Recycling Center under construction at 2450 Miller Road.  Christopher Wheeler, the city’s Planning and Zoning Director, said there appears to be a discrepancy regarding the facility’s failure to meet DeKalb County’s Solid Waste Plan. Wheeler said that he doesn’t know if or how long the recycling center developers will take to rectify the problem; however, until the issue is resolved, the company is being ordered to cease all activity on the site. Metro Green Recycling is the topic of discussion for several…

I am writing to express my sincere gratitude for advancing me to the August 11 Run-off for Clerk of Courts. I am deeply grateful for your support. It would be my great honor to serve you as Rockdale Clerk of Superior and State Courts. From the Elect Fulcher Campaign, my family and myself personally, thank you. My recent endorsement by another candidate, Ms. Mallory Minor, sends a strong signal to voters. She is a Rockdale native who cares about our community and who also understands how the courts work and the importance of the Clerk’s Office to a well-functioning court…

Congressman preserves Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program(DBE) contracts   WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today(July 1), Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), a member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, voted in favor of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. The Act provides for more than $1.5 trillion plan to rebuild American infrastructure including roads, bridges, transit systems, schools, housing, broadband access, green energy, and modernizing the Postal Service..    To watch Rep. Johnson’s House floor speech, click HERE.   Rep. Johnson’s amendment to reauthorize and preserve the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program was incorporated into the final bill before it was considered on the…

CONYERS—City Council member Blair Barksdale has resigned her seat on the Conyers City Council effective July 8. Barksdale was originally elected to the District 2, Post 1 seat in 2017. Her term will not expire until Dec. 31, 2021. Barksdale has served on several committees during her term including the Planning, Public Relations and Olde Town committees. In commenting on the resignation, Mayor Vince Evans said: “Blair is a product of this community and has exhibited a true heart for serving the citizens of Conyers. I speak for the rest of the City Council when I say I sincerely…

There were cheers and jeers as Rockdale County Board of Commissioners Chairman Oz Nesbitt addressed the crowd who gathered last night(June 30) to witness the removal of the Confederate monument, which had stood 107 years outside of the county courthouse on Main Street. Though the crowd shared the same space, they were largely divided during an event that started at 10 p.m. and pushed past midnight. Some angry whites heckled Nesbitt, while blacks cheered as he explained his “executive decision” to remove the statue following heated debates this week ahead of a protest that was scheduled for July 2. Nesbitt…

State Rep. Doreen Carter and State Sen. Emanuel Jones ATLANTA – State Rep. Doreen Carter (D-Lithonia) will host a virtual town hall meeting to discuss the proposed construction of a Metro Green recycling plant in a Stonecrest neighborhood on Thursday, July 2, 10 a.m. To register for the virtual town hall meeting, please click here. Carter will be joined by State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur). Additionally, Carter has invited city and county officials, along with representatives from Metro Green, to participate in the virtual town hall meeting. The proposed Metro Green recycling plant would be located at…

Officials concerned about large holiday crowds expected at Stone Mountain Park DeKalb County will activate the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) warning system to alert residents and visitors to the “imminent threat” posed by the increasing number of COVID-19 infections in the county and state. “We are tracking an alarming increase in the number of COVID-19 infections in DeKalb and across the state of Georgia,” DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond said. “Extraordinary measures must be taken to ensure that our residents and visitors are aware of the imminent threat and, more importantly, how to mitigate the spread of this deadly…

By Gary W. Washington, Esq. In Olde Towne Conyers, just off Maine Street, and between Court and Milstead Avenue, rests the Rockdale County Courthouse—the building to which people must come, in hopes of receiving equal justice for all under the law. In front of and high above the Courthouse, hangs the American flag with its colors; red, white, and blue, symbolizing valor, innocence, and justice. Hidden in plain view of the many people passing by on Main Street, hidden in plain view of the  merchants and businesses, hidden in plain view of the thousands of people summoned to…

Story Updated: Two additional churches joined the decree Due to the recent events in our country, members of Epiphany Lutheran Church, Excel Church, First Shady Grove Baptist Church, Life Church Christian Center, Macedonia Baptist Church, New Covenant Fellowship Church, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Conyers, Georgia area join together in proclaiming the importance stated in the Declaration of Independence that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of…

ATLANTA—Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is extending three Administrative Orders to assist Atlanta residents and businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The orders provide for an additional sixty days through Aug. 30 for the following: The first order directs the Department of Watershed Management (DWM) to refrain from taking any action that would result in the termination of water services to any DWM customer due to non-payment through Aug. 30, 2020. The second order directs all parking enforcement officers to refrain from taking any action to enforce parking regulations, which would result in the towing or immobilization of vehicles in restricted areas of the…