Author: On Common Ground News

The DeKalb County Board of Health will soon offer a free, 12-month diabetes prevention program in three locations around the county. PreventT2 is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Diabetes Prevention Program. The Board of Health previously offered the program only in central DeKalb County. The Prevent T2 program uses trained coaches to teach participants with pre-diabetes how to make lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of Type 2 Diabetes. A person with pre-diabetes has a higher blood glucose (sugar) level than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed with diabetes. Untreated…

Aug. 15, 1932-July 22, 2019 Margaret Dean Mitchell Hudson, the mother of Be Someone founder and CEO Orrin Hudson, passed away on July 22. She was 86. The DeKalb County mentor and national chess champion said his mother transitioned peacefully in her sleep. Mrs. Hudson was born in Birmingham, Alabama to the late Phillip Gildersleeve and the late Lillian Perry Mitchell. Mrs. Hudson was united in holy matrimony to the late Jerome Hudson. Although an only child herself, Mrs. Hudson had 13 children of her own and devoted her life to doing all she could for each…

Roderick Knight, 55, is the third suspect arrested in connection with the death of a 1-year-old Decatur infant who allegedly died after ingesting an overdose of prescription drugs earlier this year. The infant’s parents, Rachelle Rattrey, 24, and Tabares Tony Wadley, 26, who were arrested on July 9, remain in custody at the DeKalb County Jail. The DeKalb Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, working with the U.S. Marshals, located and arrested Knight on July 23 in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, on warrants charging him with second-degree felony murder and felony second-degree child cruelty. The parents of the infant have been charged with…

DeKalb County Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson has been invited to speak at the Council for Quality Growth’s DeKalb Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday, August 1, 8:30 a.m. at the Druid Hills Country Club. Cocharan-Johnson will discuss economic and community development in DeKalb County and District 7. To join her, please RSVP by clicking here.

To help parents get a healthy jumpstart on preparing for their children to go back to school, C.H.O.I.C.E.S. and DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson will host their 9th Annual Let’s Move! Dekalb Back-to-School Expo on Saturday, July 27. The event will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Intergenerational Center at Exchange Park, Decatur. During the expo, families will not only get free school supplies. Thanks to partners such as the Atlanta Community Food Bank, they also will receive access to the mobile food pantry to take home fresh produce and pantry staple items. Known for their…

New Birth Missionary Baptist Church is helping thousands of students start the school year on the right foot during its annual back-to-school event in August. Senior Pastor Dr. Jamal H. Bryant and the New Birth congregation have expanded this year’s outreach to include the distribution of 3,000 brand-new shoes for school-aged students on Aug. 3 In DeKalb County, where New Birth is located, nearly 105,000 students are registered in the school district. More than 15 percent of those students come from families who live below the poverty line and 72 percent receive free or reduced lunch, officials say. “We have…

DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson is calling for volunteers to help DeKalb County reach a 100 percent response rate on the 2020 Census. During National Night Out on Tuesday, Aug. 6, the DeKalb County Complete Count Committee will share information on how residents can sign up to volunteer and ensure that hard-to-reach populations in DeKalb are counted. Johnson said at today’s Board of Commissioners meeting that a caravan of volunteers will travel throughout DeKalb during National Night Out to notify the public the census count officially launches on April 1, 2020. “We have 200 volunteers who have signed up and…

Deon Chaney, 17, of Ellenwood, TaDon Ward-Pimpleton,18, of Austell, and a juvenile have been arrested and charged with breaking into several vehicles parked at homes in the Olde Town area of Conyers. The break-ins took place during the morning hours of June 24, 2019. In addition to the break-ins, one vehicle was stolen, Conyers Police Sgt. Buck Vaughn said. The suspects were identified after officers with the DeKalb County Police Department located the stolen vehicle and gave chase when it fled after a traffic stop. Conyers Police detectives interviewed the group and learned that they were in Conyers visiting a…

The City of Stonecrest Housing Authority will meet on Wednesday, July 24, 5:30 p.m., at the Council Chambers at City Hall, 3120 Stonecrest Blvd, Stonecrest. This will be the first meeting for the authority. The members include Bill Bruckner, Marty Garrison, Diane Robinson, Dennis Dae, and Nathan Alexander. The meeting is open to the public.

Antonio Manuel Wilson, 19, was found guilty for his role in the armed robbery shooting death of 20-year-old Tre Griffin of Stone Mountain. Jurors returned guilty verdicts on July 19 on felony murder and drug charges against Wilson. Griffin was gunned down on Nov. 19, 2017 in front of his mother’s home in the 5000 block of Fieldgreen Crossing in Stone Mountain. According to DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston’s office, Wilson and two other men, charged in connection with the case, conspired to rob Griffin outside of the home. Officers responding to a ‘person shot’ call found the victim…