Author: On Common Ground News

By Travis Hudgons  Several hundred people gathered March 27 at the Beacon Municipal Courtyard in downtown Decatur for a candlelight vigil honoring 14-year-old Shykia Ward-Reese. According to reports, Shykia was stabbed to death along with her mother’s boyfriend, 35-year-old Manuel De Jesus Franco, by her uncle 36-year-old Royce Alex Stewart on March 25 at the Trinity Walk Apartments in downtown Decatur. The vigil, organized by the Beacon Hill NAACP, was an opportunity for the community to come together to grieve and show its support to Shykia’s family. “She had a smile that could light up a room,” said Jana Johnson-Davis.…

By Valerie J. Morgan A week after a cyber attack shut down several of the city of Atlanta’s services, city officials announced that the ATL311 website has resumed accepting online service requests. City officials said the web site was disabled out of an abundance of caution on March 22 while the City worked to restore the systems shut down by hackers. The ransomware attack paralyzed Municipal Courts, preventing them from processing ticket payments, and forced officials to reschedule court appearances, halt new water service requests and suspend applications for employment with the city until further notice. As of On Common…

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is warning Medicare recipients to beware of con artists soliciting information by telephone. Medicare cards are undergoing a change to make them more secure, however,  scammers are taking advantage of confusion during the launch. How the Scam Works: You receive a call from a person claiming to work with Medicare. They are allegedly calling about the new Medicare card that began being mailed this spring. The cards will be more secure because they use a “Medicare Beneficiary Identifier,” instead of a Social Security number. The scammer claims that there’s a problem with your card. The…

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination 50 years ago, bells will toll 39 times around the world on April 4. The toll will occur at 7:01 p.m. Eastern Standard Time and 6:01 Central Time in Tennessee, where King was killed. The surviving children of Dr. King and Mrs. Coretta Scott King will be joined by members of the King family to toll a bell and lay a wreath on the crypts of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mrs. Coretta Scott King on the campus of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change…

Crime Watch Daily with Chris Hansen, a nationally-syndicated crime show, recently profiled three DeKalb County cold cases: one involving a missing Lithonia woman and two separate murders in Stone Mountain. The first case profiled the disappearance of 35-year-old Shawndell McLeod, who went missing in 2011 as she left for work. DeKalb detectives suspect foul play and have a person of interest, but need strong evidence to make an arrest. Tameika Taylor, 27, and Jennifer Clemmings, 32, were both victims of very violent assaults, weeks apart from each other in December of 2002 and January of 2003. No arrests have been…

Stonecrest City Councilmember Rob Turner and his wife, DeKalb School Board member Vickie B. Turner, will host a candidates’ political forum at their upcoming DeKalb Cultural Exchange (DCE) community breakfast. The forum will be held on April 7, 8:30 a.m., at Greater Traveler’s Rest House of Hope Church, 4650 Flat Shoals Parkway, Decatur. The monthly meeting, usually held on the second Saturday, was moved up one week to allow community support of the DeKalb NAACP’s Unity Breakfast, which will be held on April 14, 8:30 a.m., at Greenforest Baptist Church Early Learning Center, 3250 Rainbow Drive, Decatur. Mary-Pat Hector, a…

Officials in the city of Conyers and Rockdale County have scheduled a series of meetings to try and convince voters to pass separate bond referendums to fund new government buildings and upgrades officials say are sorely needed. Voters who live in the City of Conyers will see two bond referendums on their ballot when they go to the polls on May 22: • City residents will be asked to fund $13 million in projects, which include the construction of a $9 million City Hall on O’Kelley Street; $1 million parking facility at City Hall; and a $3 million Police…

The DeKalb County School District celebrated the groundbreaking of another innovative, future-minded DeKalb elementary school on March 29. DCSD teachers, students, administrators and officials gathered at the site of the future John R. Lewis Elementary School named in honor of U.S. Congressman, who represents Georgia’s 5th District. The legendary Lewis, one of the original 13 Freedom Riders, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor, from President Barack Obama. He was arrested over 40 times for his involvement in civil rights marches and protests The celebratory groundbreaking for DeKalb’s new school was held at 2630 Skyland Drive NE…

DeKalb County officials have approved funding to restore The Lyon Farm, part of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. The project, budgeted at $225,000, will restore the structural integrity of the farmhouse and smokehouse, repair the roof, and provide much needed weather proofing. The historic farm, located in the city of Stonecrest, is believed to be the oldest homestead in DeKalb. Joseph Emmanuel Lyon, a former British soldier who was awarded 100 acres for taking the Oath of Allegiance after being captured and serving with the patriots during the American Revolution, built a log cabin on the property in the…

The DeKalb Board of Health hosted its Diabetes Alert Day event on March 27 at the Richardson Health Center, 445 Winn Way, in Decatur. The free event, part of American Diabetes Alert Day, featured diabetes education, blood glucose screenings, healthy cooking demonstrations and other information concerning the importance of early diagnosis, especially when symptoms are not present. It is estimated that 1.1 million people, or 14% of adults in Georgia have diabetes. In DeKalb County alone, there were 7,734 hospitalizations and 655 deaths due to diabetes from 2012 through 2016. For more information about Diabetes Alert Day call 404-508-7847 or…