Author: On Common Ground News

Following a month of work, stabilization of historic Vaughters’ Barn – the iconic white-painted structure located off of Klondike Road in the city of Stonecrest – is complete. The building required significant renovations to fix years of wear and tear, the result of aging materials and the elements. Now that construction has finished, the Barn and meadow loop trail are once again available for hikers and photographers. Vaughters’ Barn is surrounded by more than 140 acres of former dairy pasture that now serves as wildlife habitat. DeKalb County was at one point the biggest dairy producer in the state of…

Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04) has been elected Secretary of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Johnson’s term will begin Jan. 3 and lasts through the 116th Congress – ending Dec. 31, 2020. The Secretary of the CBC keeps minutes of all meetings, maintains a file of all official documents and records, ensures members are notified of meetings and works in conjunction with the chair to sign or endorse any agreements, checks, drafts or notes on behalf of the CBC. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be elected by my peers to the leadership team of the Congressional Black Caucus –…

DeKalb County Commissioner Gregory Adams will host a panel discussion on the so-called school-to-prison pipeline. The leadership summit will be held Dec. 18, 9 a.m. to noon, at the Manuel J. Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur. Along with the office of DeKalb County School District Superintendent R. Stephen Green, Adams is convening a panel of local leaders to join in a think tank environment to discuss solutions. In recent years, a significant amount of public policy attention has been given to the consequences of youths falling out of the path of completing their education and adequately situating themselves…

The Wesley Chapel Library will host a Kwanzaa awareness celebration on Wednesday, Dec. 26, 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Wesley Chapel-William C. Brown Library, 2861 Wesley Chapel Road, Decatur. The holiday celebration, observed Dec. 26 to Jan. 1, honors African heritage and promotes seven principles: unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith. The community is invited to experience Kwanzaa in song, poetic drama and a performance by the ‘Each One Teach One’ African dance troupe and more. For more information, call 404-286-6980.

The National Coalition of 100 Black Women Decatur-DeKalb Chapter Inc. will host its “3rd Annual Bling Your Bra” event on Jan. 5, noon to 2 p.m., at Emory Decatur Hospital, 2701 North Decatur Road, Decatur. The program will be held in the hospital’s Keeton Auditorium. Speakers will discuss awareness, risk factors and preventive measures for breast, lung and ovarian cancers in women. The event is open to any woman who would like to attend. Free  validated parking will be available.

  Today, the men and women in blue honored fallen Officer Edgar Flores with a funeral service in Dunwoody, one of two held for him. Officers and other public safety personnel traveled in a more than mile-long motorcade at 9:30 a.m. from DeKalb County’s public safety headquarters in Tucker to All Saints Catholic Church, 2443 Mount Vernon Road, Dunwoody, where the funeral service was held. A packed crowd, which included Gov.-elect Brian Kemp, attended the service. Tears flowed as tributes  were made honoring Officer Flores. Officer Flores would have turned 25 years old on Monday, Dec. 17. He died…

Dr. Stanley J. Pritchett plans to resign as president of Atlanta’s Morris Brown College, effective Dec. 31, college officials said. In the coming weeks, the Board of Trustees will name an interim president to serve until a permanent president is appointed, the college announced in a news release. The new president will be charged with leading Morris Brown College forward to fulfill its mission of providing students a first-class education. For 12 years, Pritchett dedicated his leadership to charting a course to re-accreditation. The board expressed its thanks and appreciation to Pritchett for his service and dedication.

The Friends of Stonecrest Library recently debuted its 2019 Friends of Stonecrest calendar in its final push to raise funds for next year’s library programming. The calendar features a cover photo of the library’s mountain lodge design and contains vibrant images of 12 different butterflies for each calendar month along with suggested books such as “Salvage the Bones” by Jesmyn Ward to encourage reading in the community. “The Friends of Stonecrest Library wanted to put together a fundraiser that would provide something useful and attractive,” said Jennifer Moore, who designed the calendar and serves as the Friends of Stonecrest Library…

Saturday’s Powerball jackpot has reached an estimated $246 million. Powerball began growing Oct. 31 and has rolled 13 times. Powerball offers two jackpot payment options: the $246 million jackpot prize paid over 29 years in 30 graduated payments; or the cash option, which is approximately $145 million. Georgia Lottery players are already on a roll winning Powerball prizes, however. One winning ticket worth $1 million was sold in Decatur for the Dec. 12 Powerball drawing. The lucky ticket was purchased at Publix Super Market #269, located at 3649 Flakes Mill Road, and matched the game’s first…

Four teens are facing armed robbery and felony theft charges for carjacking an Amazon Flex driver in Conyers on Tuesday, Dec. 4, according to the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office. Tony Hester, 17, of Stone Mountain, Keyshawn Tricksey, 18, of Atlanta and Nadeem Farmer, 18, of Lithonia allegedly robbed the Amazon delivery driver while she was dropping off a package on Smokerise East. A fourth suspect, Travail Bennett, 16, was supposedly with the teens but has not been arrested. All four will be charged as adults. Holding the victim at gunpoint, the teens took the driver’s phone and stole her car…