Author: On Common Ground News

I want to speak with you briefly about the hand, the head, and the heart. Your instructors have made sure that your course of study has been hands-on and practical. We have no doubt that you are skilled of the hand. So, when you accept a job as a certified nurse assistant, for example, I know your hands will be healing hands. I know you will be skillful in what you do, but don’t be satisfied with just getting a job–always strive to be the best. Let your job propel you into a career that sustains you and your loved…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God….” —Marianne Williamson This excerpt has always stood out to me as a beacon of light and truthfulness. This poem has always been something that gives me hope and hope for my surroundings. I tell my boys often that everybody has something special on…

CITY OF STONECREST, GEORGIA Honorable Mayor Jason Lary, Sr. Council Member Jimmy Clanton, Jr. – District 1         Council Member Rob Turner- District 2 Council Member Jazzmin Cobble – District 3          Council Member George Turner- District 4 Council Member Diane Adoma – District 5 WORK SESSION MEETING AGENDA June 7, 2017 5:00p.m. Stonecrest Library 3123 Klondike Road, Lithonia, Georgia CALL TO ORDER:   Mayor Lary   ROLL CALL: Acting City Clerk   OPENING REMARKS: Mayor Lary                                                                                                                                  AGENDA ITEMS:   Discussion of the CH2M Vendor Agreement   Discussion on the Adoption of the Millage Rate   Discussion on the Zoning Ordinance…

Rockdale County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 13, 10 a.m. This meeting will be held in the Assembly Hall located, 901 Main Street, Conyers. This meeting is open to the public. For more information, email Jennifer.Rutledge@rockdalecountyga.gov. Agenda – Board Of Commissioners Tuesday, June 13, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. Call to Order Invocation: Pastor Billie Cox Public hearing pursuant to O.C.G.A. 36-60-13(g) regarding the financing or refinancing of certain projects – Roger Murray, Murray Barnes Finister LLP Approval of the Agenda Approval of the Minutes: May 23, 2017 and June 6, 2017…

Keep Conyers-Rockdale Beautiful will host a meeting on Tuesday, June 13,  6 p.m. at the J.P. Carr Community Meeting Room located at 981 Taylor Street, Conyers. This will be a regular meeting instead of the scheduled KCRB Board Training. This meeting is open to the public.   For more information, contact Jeannettia Owens at jeannettia.owens@rockdalecountyga.gov.

Rockdale County plans to amend the name of its Human Resources Department and create the “Department of Talent Management.” County officials said it wants to officially change the name to better reflect the county’s mission to not only recruit “world class” talent for job openings, but to provide training and career track guidance to those who desire to move up into other positions with the county. “It’s part of an extreme makeover,” said Rockdale Board of Commissioners Chairman Oz Nesbitt. “I think that it’s important that each time we use the phrase or term “transitioning Rockdale into a world…

Jacob Pyne, 24, has been found guilty in the July 2016 shooting death of 52-year-old Gerard Foster, a deacon at Living Water Christian Baptist Church in Decatur. DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston said in a news release that jurors convicted Pyne of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses. On July 6, 2016, Pyne shot Foster multiple times in the breezeway of his Robins Street apartment complex, according to the investigation. Foster was rushed to the hospital but died a short time later from his injuries.  Neighbors reported hearing gunshots and seeing the getaway car speed…

Sen. Emanuel Jones (D – Decatur) will co-host a special town hall meeting with DeKalb County Commissioner Larry Johnson on Monday, June 19, 6:30 to 8 p.m., at New Life Church, 3592 Flat Shoals Road, Decatur. Jones will be joined by representatives from the Georgia Department of Transportation to discuss the bridge on Flat Shoals Road and I-285, as well as other transportation issues in south DeKalb. The meeting will include presentations on the study of the bridge and estimated project completion dates.

Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner Richard Steele announced all Gwinnett tag offices will follow a five-day, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. schedule effective July 1. There also will be a change in the location offering Saturday services. Beginning July 1, the Lawrenceville tag office will be open on Saturdays, and the North Gwinnett tag branch in Buford will be closed on Saturdays. “With our Saturday crowds, we have simply outgrown our North Gwinnett location,” said Steele. “Saturday hours in Lawrenceville will offer Gwinnett County residents a centrally located branch with ample parking as well as drive-thru service. The new five-day schedule…

Left to Right: Vernon Beamon and Christopher Spencer Two gang members received life sentences for the execution-style murders of a Stone Mountain couple, DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston has announced. Jurors found Christopher “Crisco” Spencer, 27, and Vernon “Veto Corleone” Beamon, 28, guilty on charges of murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, burglary, violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, financial transaction card fraud, and weapons offenses in connection with the murders of Samuel White, 54, and his fiancé Sylvia Watson. DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Courtney Johnson, who presided over the trial, sentenced Spencer to two…