Author: On Common Ground News

Mayor Deborah Jackson and DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson Mark your calendars for the 4thAnnual Community Fun Day and Fish Fry on Saturday, Aug. 31, noon to 2 p.m. on Main Street in Lithonia. The City of Lithonia Mayor Deborah Jackson and DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson will co-host the event. There will be a petting zoo, horseback riding and other activities for the children with line dancing for the adults.

Keep Conyers-Rockdale Beautiful (KCRB) will host its Electronics Recycling and Paper Shredding for Rockdale residents and business owners. The event will be held Saturday, Sept. 7, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., oruntil the shredding truck is full, in the parking lot of 1400 Parker Road, Conyers. The free, half-day event will provide the public a place to safely discard and recycle old documents and electronics, regardless of working condition. There is a maximum of 4 banker boxes per vehicle allowed for paper shredding, and participants must provide photo ID as proof of an address in the Countyfor both…

The Rockdale County UGA Cooperative Extension Office will host the first Rockdale County Food and Science Festival on Saturday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Pine Street Elementary School, 500 Sigman Road, Conyers. The free event will showcase all three program areas of UGA Cooperative Extension: Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR), Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS), and 4-H. The goal is to highlight the relationship between food production and consumption and the impact it has on the body and mind in a fun festival-style event. Attendees will be able to navigate a path through more than 15 different…

The six-week annual summer “volunteen” program at Piedmont Rockdale Hospital recently concluded with students receiving scholarships during the Volunteen Awards Ceremony. The volunteen program is organized and overseen by the hospital’s Volunteer Auxiliary. This summer, two returning students received scholarships totaling $3,000 to further their education in medicine. Jaylynn Caudle will be attending Augusta University in the fall and plans to pursue a medical degree. She has hopes of becoming an OB/GYN physician. Caudle has served more than 64 hours through the volunteen program and was recognized as the Rockdale Career Academy Healthcare Student of the Year. Jazmyn Flakes will…

State Rep. Karen Bennett, District 94, in partnership with Redan Park Association, will once again host the Back to School Zone Sports Physicals for students ages 5 to 17 who are seeking to play recreational team sports this fall. The annual event will take place on Saturday, Aug. 24, 9 a.m. to noon, at Redan Recreation Center, 1839 Philips Road, Lithonia. Students must be pre-registered in order to receive the sports physicals. A limited number of free sports physicals will be provided by a volunteer Board Certified doctor and volunteer nurses who will be available at the event.…

OBITUUARY Father James Stephen Behrens, OCSO, a monk at the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Rockdale County, died on Thursday, Aug. 15, at the hospital as a result of complications from a lung biopsy procedure. A monk of 25 years and a priest of 45 years, he served as a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark for over 20 years before entering the monastery in 1994. Father James was 71 years old when the Lord called him. Fr James is the author of six books; two of them containing collections of photographs, each captivating image…

Rockdale County Public Schools Teachers of the Year for 2019-2020 pictured (left to right): Back Row – Michael Zellous (Open Campus), Reginald Jacobs (Rockdale County High), Janareau Murray (Pine Street Elementary), Natasha Belle (Memorial Middle), Josh Kammerer (Shoal Creek Elementary), Chris Anglin (Rockdale Career Academy). Middle Row – Vita Reed (Edwards Middle), Nabulungi Bolton-Johnson (Alpha Academy), Divya Kharod (C.J. Hicks Elementary), Precious Moon (Hightower Trail Elementary), Beth Withers (Salem High), Francoise Scott (Gen. Ray Davis Middle), Tracee Smith (Honey Creek Elemenary), Dametria Williams (Rockdale Magnet School for Science and Technology), Cynthia Siren (Peek’s Chapel Elementary). Front Row – Kimberly Tomlinson…

ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is warning the public of a scam targeting the elderly for “free” genetic testing to gain their personal and financial information. “We are becoming increasingly concerned about this scam which is making its way throughout Georgia,” said Carr. “Unfortunately, victims taken in by this scheme are often providing sensitive personal information, including insurance and financial information, that could be misused in a number of ways. We want Georgians to be aware that we are seeing more and more of this activity, so they can spot the warning signs and share this…

Significantly high cancer rates reported in 30014 ZIP Code COVINGTON—Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) today sent letters to the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD) demanding answers as to why his constituents in Covington were not informed about a dangerous chemical being released into the community’s air. Johnson is calling for the agencies to conduct independent testing at the BD Bard plant, which sterilizes medical equipment. The plant, Johnson said, is releasing ethylene oxide – a chemical the EPA says causes cancer. Johnson’s letters come on the heels of an Aug. 1 community meeting that…

Georgia’s child support director will soon begin her term as the new president of the National Child Support Enforcement Association’s (NCSEA) Board of Directors. Tanguler Gray, director of the Georgia Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Child Support Services, received the ceremonial gavel at the association’s annual meeting on Aug. 13 in Minneapolis. Gray’s one-year term as president will begin Sept. 1. “As Georgia’s child support services director, Tanguler has been on the forefront of implementing innovative ideas and programs to empower parents to support their children,” said DHS Commissioner Robyn A. Crittenden. “I am so proud…