Author: On Common Ground News

The Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series will host the General Election debate for Georgia Governor on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, which will air live at 7 p.m. The debate will be aired via Atlanta Press Club Facebook Live and on Georgia Public Broadcasting. Each debate from the Loudermilk-Young Debate Series will be available for viewers to watch on demand via Facebook Live at http://www.fb.com/TheAtlantaPressClub and GPBNews.org. The General Election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. More information regarding the complete Atlanta Press Club Loudermilk-Young Debate Series can be found here: https://atlantapressclub.org/debates/ All candidates who qualify with the…

  On Wednesday, the head of the state’s child welfare agency will outline ways Georgia can help grandparents, aunts, and other relatives caring for boys and girls whose parents aren’t able to. Tom Rawlings, interim director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services(DFCS), will participate in a panel discussion with other national experts in a forum hosted by the Chronicle of Social Change. He’ll outline ways the state supports relative caregivers through a statewide network of Kinship Navigators who connect these formal and informal foster parents with benefits and community support programs. Rawlings is a former…

The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) invites all students, staff, and stakeholders to Parent Councils United’s Conversation with Superintendent/CEO R. Stephen Green event on Tuesday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. The event will feature Dr. Green sharing his thoughts on the school year thus far, the district’s goals for the remaining portion of the school year, and introductions to regional superintendents. “Each year, Parent Councils United graciously unites parents, staff, and community members for an evening filled with productive conversation. I expect this year to be no exception,” said Superintendent/CEO Dr. R. Stephen Green. “I challenge everyone…

Temika Murry, who has 15 years of experience in child advocacy, has been appointed as a DeKalb County Juvenile Court judge, effective Nov. 1. Murry is currently a senior supervising attorney with the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center, where she has worked since the agency’s inception in 2003. Prior to working as a child advocate, Murry completed a public interest fellowship through Washington, D.C.,-based Equal Justice Works (EJW). As an EJW Fellow, Murry served as a legal advocate with Atlanta-based nonprofit, Forever Family, formerly known as Aid to Children of Imprisoned Mothers Inc. A graduate of the University of Georgia…

Gov. Nathan Deal today notified House Speaker David Ralston and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle that he plans to call for a special legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly. The special session is set to convene on Tuesday, Nov. 13. “Georgia was severely impacted by Hurricane Michael and many communities across our state sustained heavy financial losses,” said Deal. “In response, I will ask the General Assembly to take immediate action and lead the way in spurring rapid economic recovery for southwest Georgia communities. Our state budget also needs to be amended to ensure that we adequately cover our obligations.…

DEKALB COUNTY The DeKalb County Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs will host several Halloween events at recreation centers on Oct. 26 – 31.  Many of the festivals are free to attend and will include face painting, movies, games and costume contests. The public is invited and children are encouraged to wear costumes. For more information, call the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Affairs at 404-371-2711. (Note: not all events listed below are affiliated with DeKalb Parks and Recreation) Friday, Oct. 26 Lucious Sanders Recreation Center, 2484 Bruce Street, Lithonia, 6:30 – 9:30 p.m. Free admission. Midway Recreation…

The No. 9 ranked Southwest DeKalb Panthers and Arabia Mountain Rams set up a big clash for the top of the Region 5-5A standings with wins last Friday night. Southwest DeKalb (8-0, 3-0) shutout the Lithonia Bulldogs (5-3, 2-1) 9-0 behind a suffocating defense that allowed the Bulldogs just 46 yards of total offense. The Panthers took a 3-0 lead into the half in the defensive struggle as Reano Ramjig hit a 26-yard field goal with 11 minutes to play in the half. Jamel Starks’ touchdown run with five minutes left in the third quarter made it 9-0. Eian Scott…

  The DeKalb County School District (DCSD) will conduct six public meetings as a part of two upcoming redistricting efforts involving the new John R. Lewis Elementary Elementary facility and the Druid Hills High School cluster. These two redistricting efforts are to address additional capacity created by the new John Lewis Elementary facility, as well as the overcrowding of elementary schools in the Cross Keys and Druid Hills High School Clusters. The second of three meetings will present three (3) proposed options for redistricting. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the redistricting options in small groups and provide input to…

DeKalb County Police Department’s Command Staff received in-service training this week. The classes, which were held on Oct. 17 and 18, included Tact, Tactics and Trust, Community Policing, Taser use, ASP, De-escalation, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Building A Foundation of Trust, were held at the AEI Start-up Factory, 7310 Stonecrest Concourse.

DeKalb County Solicitor-General Donna Coleman Stribling So you think you can dance? Notable DeKalb County officials will show off their dancing skills as they compete in the second annual Dancing with the DeKalb Stars, a domestic violence fundraiser and resource expo hosted by DeKalb County Solicitor-General Donna Coleman Stribling. The event takes place on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m. at the Porter Sanford III Performing Arts & Community Center. The resource expo will open one hour prior at 5 p.m. The dance competition features nine teams, each of which is comprised…