Author: On Common Ground News

DeKalb County’s fiscal health continues to improve, officials said. DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond recently announced that the county’s projected FY2018 fund balance has reached $103 million. The increase is nearly two months of reserves to finance county operations. “DeKalb has a growing economy that requires a financially stable government that people can trust,” said Thurmond. “The fund balance is insurance against economic downturns and allows us to plan effectively for future needs.” In FY2017, the county eliminated a structural deficit of $24.7 million, balanced the budget and continued to build the rainy day fund. FY 2018 began with an $81…

A lucky Jonesboro resident has won the chance of a lifetime. Margo Wright, 65, was selected randomly to win two free tickets to the biggest football game of the year in the Georgia Lottery’s Big Game Showdown second chance promotion. From Oct. 22 to Nov. 28, players were able to enter Mega Millions tickets into the Big Game Showdown for a chance to win two free tickets to the exciting professional football championship game taking place in Atlanta Feb. 3, 2019. Winners were selected randomly in weekly drawings. Wright was the winner of the promotion’s Nov. 16 drawing. According to…

The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) has claimed top honors in the number of top-performing Title I schools. Six DCSD schools—tied for the most in metro Atlanta and the state of Georgia—made the list, including Arabia Mountain High School, DeKalb Early College Academy (DECA), Henderson Mill Elementary, Livsey Elementary, Robert Shaw Theme School, and Wynbrooke Elementary. The Georgia DOE released its annual list of Title I Distinguished Schools, or top-performing Title I schools on Dec. 4. Distinguished schools are among the top 5 percent of all Title I schools in the state, as determined by College & Career Readiness Performance…

The last defendant of a group of 16 U.S. Postal Service letter carriers and clerks from the Atlanta area has been sentenced to federal prison for accepting bribes to deliver packages of cocaine–two kilograms or more at a time–in a undercover operation. The defendants received sentences of between three and nine years in prison for taking bribes as low as $250 to make deliveries. The oldest defendant sentenced was 64. According to U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak, in 2015, federal agents learned that drug traffickers had been bribing postal workers to intercept and specially deliver packages of drugs while…

The Rockdale Democratic Party has elected a new slate of officers who will take office on Jan. 1. The Party held the elections on Dec. 1. Cheryl Miles Board, who had been serving as interim chair, was elected as chair; John Penn was elected as 1st vice chair; Phyllis Hatcher was elected as 2nd vice chair; Lynn Anderson was elected treasurer and Stan Williams was elected secretary. The positions are two-year terms.

Stonecrest’s Office of Economic Development is hosting a film industry panel discussion on Monday, Dec. 10, 4 to 5:30 p.m., at Stonecrest City Hall. Panelists will discuss film industry topics including: Getting into the filming industry Listing your property as a movie set location Movies impact on local economy Past and current Stonecrest film projects Seats are limited for the event. To get your free ticket, visit: https://bit.ly/2PjnQEN Immediately following the panel discussion, there will be a “Mix & Mingle” with representatives from the film industry at the Pizza Bar located at 7301 Stonecrest Concourse, Stonecrest.  

Atlanta’s Orrin “Checkmate” Hudson, founder of the Be Someone mentoring program for youths, was one of the “Points of Light” honorees selected to attend the Dec. 5 farewell ceremony for the award’s founder, President George H.W. Bush. Hudson said the organization designated Dec. 5 as his “Point of Light” Day. He became the 6,408 Point of Life honoree with the recognition and was pinned during a ceremony. The DeKalb County resident said he also will receive a certificate that was signed by President George H.W. Bush. President Bush died Nov. 30 in Houston at age 94. His wife of…

Atlanta Gas Light officials and DeKalb County leaders held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 29 for the company’s new Atlanta Region Business Center. The 51,000-square-foot facility, located at 2105 Brannen Road in Atlanta, sits on 8.23 acres and consists of office and warehouse space, a fleet operation facility and a compressed natural gas station for Atlanta Gas Light service vehicles. Approximately 150 Atlanta Gas Light employees will relocate to the facility, which offers the company a centralized location to better meet customer needs in the metro Atlanta area and provides an opportunity for its workforce to leverage integrated technology to…

Rockdale County has created an Economic Development Taskforce committee to serve as a consistent line of communication between Rockdale County Government, the Rockdale County Development Authority and the Conyers Rockdale Economic Development Council (CREDC). Board of Commissioners’ Chairman Oz Nesbitt, Sr, who appointed the eight-member task force, said the group will work cohesively to attract businesses to Rockdale. “We believe this serves as an additional tool for what Rockdale County Government needs to do in our community to keep businesses coming,” said Nesbitt. Mike Sullivan, Chairman of the Rockdale County Development Authority, commended the formation of the new task force…

MARTA passengers will be treated to some holiday performances by local groups.  The Sinfo-Nia Youth Orchestra will be featured in MARTA’s Holiday Program Series on Friday, Dec. 14, 5 to7 p.m. at the Five Points Station.