Author: On Common Ground News

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…

Richard Rose, president of the Atlanta branch of the NAACP joined the state NAACP today in calling for immediate change in policing and public safety policies in Atlanta and accountability at the highest level in the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks on June 12 in a Wendy’s parking lot. “We demand that the City of Atlanta admit that the police force has a police brutality problem,” Rose said. “We call for the immediate termination of Chief Erika Shields who has demonstrated that she does not have the capacity to make systemic changes in her department to ensure a focus…

The DeKalb County Human Services Department announces the launch of its Youth Services Virtual Village, an online platform bringing resources, programs and activities to children and youth living in DeKalb County. Many children who normally attend recreational facilities and summer camps remain sheltered in place at home as a result of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The Virtual Village is an online platform that provides information, classes and activities to parents and youth from birth through 18 years of age. More than 30 classes and programs that are normally held in person have been converted to this virtual platform connecting instructors…

Event will be livestreamed Sunday, June 14, on Facebook   DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha V. Ramos will host a Virtual Community Q&A on Sunday, June 14, 6 p.m.,  on the department’s Facebook page. Questions or concerns can be submitted on the Facebook event post beforehand or submitted live during the Q&A session. “I want the community to know that I hear and understand their concerns and frustration,” said Chief Ramos. “I’m hosting this Q&A to reaffirm my stance on honesty and transparency.”  The DeKalb County Police Department is the second-largest police department in Georgia. Chief Ramos is…

                                        State Sen. Emanuel Jones and DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond ATLANTA — The DeKalb County Senate Delegation on June 11 voted unanimously to ask DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond to provide frontline pay to 1,000 county poll workers. State Sen. Emanuel Jones, chairman of the DeKalb Senate Delegation, said poll workers are vital to our democracy and the voting process, and should receive frontline pay for their Election Day service during the June, August and November elections. Thurmond agreed to…