Author: On Common Ground News

DECATUR, GA– The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit today (Aug. 23) arrested a suspect accused of killing a man during a cell phone robbery. Flowery Branch, Georgia resident Jeremy Rashaad Baker, 32, was arrested AUG. 23 in Lithonia, Georgia and charged with Murder and Armed Robbery in connection with the shooting death of Rayshaad Christopher Jones, 28, of Lithonia, and the robbery of Camri Tyeisha Davis, 27, of Stone Mountain, Georgia. Arrest warrants allege that on Aug. 2, 2023, Jones and Davis went to Baker’s residence on Rogers Trace in Lithonia to confront him about missing property. Warrants say…

By Mark Brock DCSD Athletics  Specialist DEKALB COUNTY, GA—The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) will present a $250,000 grant to Stone Mountain High School and the DeKalb County School District during a pre-game ceremony at the Stone Mountain/Redan matchup at Hallford Stadium on Friday, Aug. 25, 7:30 pm. The matching grant was approved as part of a grassroots program through LISC fundied by the Atlanta Falcons, National Football League Foundation and the NFL Grassroots Program. The grant will be used to complete the artificial surface at the Stone Mountain High School field. Dale Royal, executive director of LISC Atlanta and…

LITHONIA, GA– On Tuesday, Aug. 29, District 5 Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson will host an informational town hall meeting focused on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) II. The meeting will be held at t6:30 p.m., at the East DeKalb Senior Center, 2449 Bruce Street, Lithonia. In November, voters will have an opportunity to consider SPLOST II and EHOST, which if passed collectively, would provide $1 billion in property tax relief to DeKalb homeowners. The relief would come from a proposed Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax (EHOST) credit for homeowners who qualify for a homestead exemption. If approved,…

By Mark Brock DCSD Athletics  Specialist The 2023 DeKalb County Schools middle school football season gets underway on Saturday morning in stadiums across DeKalb County. Due to the high temperatures and heat index expected on Saturday,  the game times have been moved up an hour for the safety of the athletes, coaches and staff.  All 10 a.m. games will start at 9 a.m. and all 11:30 a.m .games begin at 10:30 am. Stephenson plays host to McNair at Hallford Stadium at 10:30 a.m. to begin defense of the Jaguars’ 2022 county championship. Playoff participant Champion and semifinalist Lithonia open the…

DECATUR, GA—DeKalb County Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs youth basketball and cheerleading program registration is now open until Oct. 31. County youths ages 5 to 18 are invited to sign up for instructional or division basketball. The registration fee for the instructional league ages 5 to 6 is $25, $65 for ages 7 to 18 and will include one uniform. Cheerleading registration is $65 for ages 5 to 15 and will include one uniform and additional fees. The basketball and cheerleading programs begin Dec. 9. Practice dates and times for basketball and cheerleading programs will be determined by the recreation…

Rockdale County activist Josie Dean urges community to wear U.S. flag colors to show support  for Fulton District Attorney Fani Willis ROCKDALE COUNTY, GA—Community activist Josie Dean is calling on the community to wear red, white and blue—the colors of the American flag—on Thursday, Aug. 24, as former president Donald Trump prepares to surrender to Fulton authorities. Trump and18 associates are charged in a lengthy indictment with attempting to overturn Georgia’s results in the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to Democrat Joe Biden. Trump is seat to come to Atlanta on Thursday, after agreeing to be processed at the…

ATLANTA –Georgia Representative Doreen Carter (D-Lithonia) hosted Senior Citizens Day in House District 93 on Monday, Aug. 21, at the East DeKalb Senior Center in Lithonia. Carter held the event to provide information and resources to the aging population in House District 93. “Protecting our senior adults is one of my highest priorities,” said Carter. “We must do everything in our power to ensure that they have the best quality of life.” At the event, R. Carter was joined by Nathan Coflin, Senior Medicare Patrol Outreach Specialist, to discuss Medicare and fraud prevention. Attendees learned about ways to protect their…

The qualifying period for the City of Stonecrest elections began on Monday, Aug. 21, and will end on Friday, Aug. 25. So far, Council member George Turner, District 4,  is the only incumbent who is not facing a challenger. Here are the candidates who have qualified ft so far:

DECATUR, GA—For the third consecutive year, DeKalb County Government has won national recognition as a top national leader leader in the innovative use of technology, including its work enhancing the county’s cyber security.  The Center for Digital Government and the National Association of Counties (NACo) ranked DeKalb County second in the nation among counties with a population of 500,000 to 999,999 in the 19th annual Digital Counties Survey. Out of the 88 counties in this category, only three were from Georgia, including Gwinnett and Cobb that ranked seventh and ninth, respectively.    Since 2017, DeKalb County has been recognized annually…