Author: On Common Ground News

Dr. Jamal-Harrison Bryant will be installed as the new pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday, March 10, 6400 Woodrow Road, Stonecrest. The church will commemorate this occasion with two services—9:30 a.m. and 6:45 p.m.—featuring a host of esteemed faith leaders, as well as noted political and business and civic luminaries. Dr. Bryant comes to New Birth in the midst of a distinguished career as a pastor, author, civic activist and social entrepreneur. He is a graduate of Morehouse College, Duke University and the University of Oxford in England. He began his career as an activist and organizer,…

Delay angers veterans’ group, community activists By Valerie J. Morgan A veterans group and community activists in DeKalb County are demanding answers in the Anthony Hill murder case as Hill’s fatal shooting by former DeKalb police officer Robert Olsen approaches its four-year anniversary. The case hit another delay with the news that the trial, scheduled for Feb. 25, is now set for Sept. 23. Hill, a 27-year-old U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Afghanistan, was shot and killed on March 9, 2015 by former Olsen. Hill was naked and unarmed when he was roaming outside of…

  By Mackenzie N. Morgan The Hodge family is still basking in its excitement after welcoming home daughter and sister SPC Amneiah Hodge at a military homecoming celebration held on March 6 at Heritage High School in Rockdale County.  SPC Hodge, who graduated from DeKalb County’s Arabia Mountain High School in 2014, recently returned to the U.S. after spending nine months overseas in Zagan, Poland and Grafenwöhr, Germany. The Conyers servicewoman and her mother, Candice Hodge, orchestrated the surprise homecoming for Amneiah’s father, Henry Hodge, Jr., who works as an intel specialist at Heritage High, and two younger…

Pictured from left to right are Erica Owens, Georgia Lottery Vice President of Sales Operations; Charles E. “Chilly” Ewing Sr., Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Director of Concessions; Deborah Gatlin, Georgia Lottery Sales Operations Manager; Gretchen Corbin, Georgia Lottery President and CEO; Michael L. Smith, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Senior Deputy General Manager. ATLANTA – The Georgia Lottery Corp. celebrated the grand opening of its new store at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 7. Located on Concourse T, this is the Georgia Lottery’s first retail location at the airport beyond security checkpoints. “We want…

Left to right: Stonecrest Councilmember Jimmy Clanton, District 1, and Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary strike a pose where new landscaping has been installed on Turner Hill Road near the Mall at Stonecrest. Stonecrest residents can now see the beginning of the city’s beautification efforts on Tuner Hill Road and Stonecrest Parkway.  As a result of a collaborative effort between the city of Stonecrest and the East Metro Community Improvement District (CID), the median landscaping on Turner Hill now has hundreds of yellow pansies, decorative shrubs and several crape myrtle trees. Similar streetscapes have begun on Mall Parkway.  Ongoing…

Left to right: City Engineer Ken Hildebrandt and Mayor Jason Lary Stonecrest city officials will soon receive the results of a digital road analysis that will provide them with information on the condition of the city’s streets and a plan outlining the most efficient way to repair them. During the last few weeks, Stantec Consulting Services Inc. conducted the paving analysis using two vans equipped with the latest mobile laser, GPS, and crack recognition technology. City Engineer Ken Hildebrandt said the vehicle analyzed the city’s 269 miles of roads and will give the staff a report that identifies,…

Rockdale County Board of Commissioners Chairman Oz Nesbitt, Sr. will host the first Shop Talk forum of 2019 on Saturday, March 16, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., at Madd Skillz Barbershop, 2445 Salem Road, Suite 215, Conyers. The first event in this year’s series will feature the following speakers to answer questions and concerns: S. Census Bureau Representative Phinia Aten, Chief Magistrate Judge Troy Smith, Rockdale Code Enforcement Manager Dawn Stewart, Rockdale Code Enforcement Analyst Shop Talk is a grassroots series that provides opportunities for community residents to get to know their government officials and to address their concerns. For more…

E.R. Shipp Black Heritage of Rockdale County will host its 2019 celebration and induct 10 people into its inaugural Black Heritage Hall of Fame on March 16, 2 p.m., at the J.P. Carr Community Center, 961 Taylor St., Conyers. The community is invited to a fascinating program that will not only celebrate black trailblazer but one that will feature a symposium about four notable black historic sites in Rockdale, Newton, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties. Rockdale native daughter E.R. Shipp, who received the Pulitzer Prize as a journalist for the New York Daily News in 1996, will moderate the symposium, “Embracing…

Toney Elementary School students were excited to greet DeKalb County Deputy Sheriff Marks as he arrived to participate in the school’s annual Career Day on March 5. In addition to answering questions about law enforcement, Deputy Marks took an opportunity to appoint class members as Junior Deputy Sheriffs for DeKalb County.

Left to right:  Kids in Need staff members Ray Wright and Rita Wright, Georgia United Credit Union Business Development Manager Leigh Gant, RCPS Public Relations Specialist Anne Principe, Kids in Need Supervisor Marcus Harvin, Atlanta Community Food Bank driver Lamar Watson stand next to dozens of pallets with more than 22,600 pounds of school supplies donated for Rockdale students from the ACFB Kids in Need program.   The Kids in Need program of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, through a partnership with Georgia United Credit Union, recently donated more than 22,600 pounds of school supplies to Rockdale County Public…