Author: On Common Ground News

A fatal hit-and-run car accident has left one man dead and a former student of DeKalb Count’s Stephenson High School  behind bars. Brittany Ashley, 32, of Stone Mountain turned herself in on July 23 after  fatally hitting Kevin Brown, 38, of Norcross on July 20 and leaving the scene. The incident happened just before midnight in the 1300 block of Beaver Ruin Road in Norcross. Ashley was charged with one count of hit-and-run and one count of homicide by vehicle. She remains in custody at Gwinnett County Jail without bond. According to social media, the 32-year-old was a millennial fashion…

Photos by David Ferebee Voices of Faith Ministries, under the leadership of Bishop Gary Hawkins, Sr., presented five of its high school seniors with scholarships on July 21. The scholarship winners were honored at worship services at Voices of Faith’s Stone Mountain and Conyers campuses. The VOF Men’s Ministry, led by Bishop Hawkins, along with Deacon Robert Scales, chair of the VOF Golf Committee and the 50 Plus Ministry, led by Deaconess Kishia Mitchell, partnered together for the first time to raise money for the scholarships. Through the partnership, four students each received a $750 scholarship this year. The…

The Orchids, a service organization in East Metro Atlanta, recently saw the fruits of its labor when 100 girls at Spearman Primary School in Durban, South Africa received a special gift to help them stay in school. As a part of its philanthropic efforts last year, The Orchids donated $1,123 to the Keeping Girls in School project, which provides alternative sanitary products to school-aged girls. And this year, Shamila Ramjawan, CEO of Famram Solutions, which manufactures the PrincessD Cups, presented them to the students. “Many girls in third world countries and even here in the United States…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Hank Johnson (GA0-04) had a chance to question Special Counsel Robert Mueller III during Muller’s nearly seven-hour testimony on July 24 before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections. Johnson, who lives in DeKalb County and represents Georgia’s Fourth District, focused his questions on whether President Trump tried to obstruct Mueller’s investigation into his administration. Johnson, chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, established that Trump tried to get his White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Mueller, another obstruction of justice by…

Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary conducts an interview at the Turner Hill Road paving project. The Stonecrest City Council voted on July 24 to move into the city’s second phase of road paving, which will cover large portions of Salem, Rockland, and Thompson Mill roads.  The paving will begin in August and will be completed by Nov. 22. The city’s first paving phase finalized this week with the completion of a full-depth reclamation project on the south end of Turner Hill Road. The roads were selected from a Pavement Condition Index(PCI) score provided by Stantec Inc., the company hired…

DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs Department will host the final feature of its 2019 Movies in the Park series on July 30 at Browns MillAquatic Facility, 5101 Browns Mill Road, in the city of Stonecrest. Paramount Pictures “Bumblebee,” rated PG-13, will be shown at dusk (between 8:30 and 8:45 p.m.). Admission to the park is free after 8 p.m. The movie is about Bumblebee the Autobot, which finds refuge in a junkyard in a small California beach town. When a teen girl named Charlie revives him, she quickly learns that this is no ordinary yellow Volkswagen. Those who…

DeKalb County Superior Court Clerk Debra DeBerry is hosting the 7thAnnual Community Appreciation Day, Saturday, Aug. 10, 5 to 9 p.m. at Browns Mill Aquatic Facility, 4949 Browns Mill Road. The family event will include complimentary entry into the facility, food and music.

DeKalb County Commissioner  is encouraging homeowner associations, community and faith-based groups interested in partnering for a community cleanup to contact her office at 404-371-2412 or email district5@dekalbcountyga.govto schedule a date. The cleanups are held every third Saturday.

DeKalb County Public Library will host a groundbreaking ceremony Monday, July 29, 11 a.m.,to kick off renovations to the Stone Mountain Sue-Kellogg Library, 952 Leon Street. DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond, DeKalb County Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, Friends of the Library and other dignitaries will be present and the public is invited to attend. The updated floor plan and new finishes will be on display. The project will be completed by C.T. Darnell Construction. During the renovation period, patrons can visit these nearby branches: Tucker-Reid H. Cofer Library, 5234 LaVista Road, Tucker Hairston Crossing Library, 4911 Redan Road, Stone Mountain Clarkston…

The DeKalb History Center’s next “Hops at the History Center” event on Aug. 6 will spotlight Druid Hills, considered one of Atlanta’s first suburbs. Designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead Sr., Druid Hills offered plenty of shady trees and a park at the center of the neighborhood—the perfect escape from city life. Businessmen Joel Hurt and Asa Griggs Candler are also credited with the upbringing of Druid Hills. Joel Hurt, an entrepreneur responsible for developing Inman Park, purchased the land that is now Druid Hills and sold it to the Druid Hills Corporation headed by Asa Griggs Candler,…