Author: On Common Ground News

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is transforming the church grounds into a fall festival, complete with hayrides, candy, music and more. The annual Harvest Fire Festival, filled with bounce houses, face painting, game trucks and “trunk or treat” activities, is Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6 to 9 p.m., 6400 Woodrow Road, Stonecrest. “This is New Birth’s annual event to celebrate and commemorate family, community and fellowship,” said Senior Pastor Dr. Jamal H. Bryant. “The church has to be intentional about connecting with our neighbors and cultivating a sense of community that goes beyond the four walls of this church.” In recent…

The  City of Stonecrest Parks and Recreation Department is inviting families to join its Trunk or Treat on Halloween (Oct. 31), 5 to 7 p.m., at the Browns Mill Recreation Center, 5101 Browns Mill Road. Adults are invited to decorate their vehicles’ trunks for kids stopping by to receive treats. The fun-filled evening will include prizes for “Best Costume” and “Best Trunk.”  For the trunk competition,register at http://bit.ly/trunk-n-treat .

The city of Stonecrest hosted the grand re-opening of Browns Mill Recreation Center on Oct. 12.  The center closed recently for more than $100,000 in repairs and upgrades to the heating and air conditioning system, gymnasium floor, lift station, backflow preventers, and the fire suppression and safety system.  The city also added a new Wi-Fi and communications system, which includes a video announcement flat-screen television at the center’s entrance and will soon add a new computer laboratory.  Stonecrest’s Parks and Recreation Director Sean DePalma said the upgrades are a requirement for obtaining the center’s first license through the Georgia Department…

Mayor Jason Lary and Stonecrest staff members had a contractor to repair a crumpled fence that has been an eyesore for over a year at the I-20 east ramp at Panola and Fairington Roads, said Communications Director Adrion Bell. The fence, left in disrepair after an accident near the ramp occurred, was repaired on Oct. 14. Bell said the city had been trying to get the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to address the problem, but after hearing from GDOT officials last week that the repairs would not be addressed for another six months, the city took action.         Lary…

The city’s business license technicians process hundreds of applications daily. Recently, however, a different entrepreneur approached their window.  Auri Turner went to City Hall on Oct. 14 to obtain a business license for her candy and confectionery company, Riri’s Party. Turner is 10 years old, making her the youngest entrepreneur on record in Stonecrest. Mayor Jason Lary interviewed the Flat Rock Elementary School student and her mother, Marsha Turner-Owens, for a Stonecrest TV News Brief. “I own a very creative business.  I make candy accessories and party treats.  We also come to birthday parties and provide treats and play lots…

The DeKalb County Police Department is seeking the public’s help in locating the suspect they believe fatally shot an Ellenwood man. Police found the body of Frankie Tyrone Russell, 48, on the floor near the dining room inside his residence, located in the 2300 block of Deer Springs Drive in Ellenwood on Oct. 5. Police were dispatched to the home after an alarm was activated by the garage door, which they found open when they arrived. Investigators said Russell was found with a single gunshot wound to the left side of his head. They said they believe Russell and the…

Lyndon “Sas” Smith, and James D. Ruffin The DeKalb County Police Department’s Special Victims Unit has arrested Lyndon “Sas” Smith, 26, of Atlanta, and James D. Ruffin, 27, of Snellville, for attempting to pimp underage girls.  Smith was arrested on Oct. 17. Ruffin was arrested on Oct. 10. The unit’s investigation concluded that Smith and Ruffin were planning to travel out-of-state with two teen girls for the purpose of prostitution. Authorities said the teens were safely recovered. Smith and Ruffin were charged with Criminal Attempt Trafficking of Persons for Sexual Servitude and Criminal Attempt Pimping of a Person less…

Five DeKalb leaders to join Woodall on historic state cabinet  By Valerie J. Morgan James “Major” Woodall, 25, has been elected as the new state president of the Georgia NAACP. The historic vote of the state NAACP makes Woodall, who is from Bulloch County, GA, the youngest to serve as state president in the 110-year history of the civil rights organization. The DeKalb County NAACP branch will be well represented in Woodall’s cabinet. DeKalb President Teresa Hardy and members Louise Thomas, Shelby Hall, Vivian Moore and Yvonne Hawkins all were elected to two-year terms for the 13-member…

   Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp presented the Paul Nelson Award for Outdoor Recreation and Preservation to the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance last month. Accepting on the organization’s behalf is Executive Director Mera Cardenas.Photo: Georgia Governor’s Tourism Conference. STONECREST–The Board of Directors of the Arabia Mountain Heritage Area Alliance announces the departure of Mera Cardenas, its longtime executive director. Cardenas, who has served the organization for nearly a decade, will assume the role of executive director at Canalway Partners, a managing entity of the Ohio-Erie Canalway National Heritage Area based in Cleveland, OH. Her departure will be effective by…

A $3.2 million project will begin later this month to fix one of DeKalb County’s most problematic sewer spill sites. From January 2014 to present, Hood Circle was the site of 12 sewer spills, making it one of the top repeat spill sites in the county, and a source of frustration for residents in the area. The primary cause of these sewers spill was stormwater entering aging and deteriorating pipes through cracks, vented manhole covers and structural defects. The DeKalb County Department of Watershed Management will repair or replace approximately 2,400 linear feet of pipes, some of which were installed…