Author: On Common Ground News

Stonecrest City Councilwoman Jazzmin Cobble is hosting the DeKalb Young Democrats monthly meeting on Sept. 20, 7 p.m. at This Is It Banquet Hall, 2853 Panola Road, Lithonia. “I’m looking forward to the meeting in our new city,” said Cobble. “Typically, we hold the meetings in downtown Decatur. We decided to move the meetings to other areas of the county to engage more young Democrats.”

The Rockdale Democratic Party is inviting voters to meet the candidates running for mayor in the city of Conyers. The Party is hosting a forum on Sept. 23, 9 a.m., at the Party’s headquarters, 1264 Parker Road, Conyers. There are three candidates in the hotly-contested race for mayor who have been invited: Vince Evans, Ronnie Godwin  and Olivia Ware. Each candidate will answer a series of questions after introducing himself or herself. The contestants are vying to succeed Mayor Randy Mills, who announced he would not run after serving in public office for 28 years. Municipal elections will be held…

The DeKalb County Board of Ethics will conduct its regular board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 4 p.m., at Central DeKalb Senior Center, second floor meeting room, 1346 McConnell Drive, Decatur.

There will be a Special Called Work Session on Wednesday, September 20th at 6:00pm to 8:00pm in the Stonecrest Library, 3123 Klondike Road, Stonecrest, GA. and a Special Called Council Meeting on Thursday, September 21, 2017 at 10:00am for a Public Hearing and vote on the SPLOST Resolution.

ATLANTA—MARTA will hold public hearings on Thursday, Sept. 14, for proposed bus service modifications in DeKalb and Fulton counties. All changes accepted by MARTA’s Board of Directors will become effective Dec. 9, 2017. The public is invited to attend the hearings. MARTA representatives will be on hand to answer questions beginning at 6 p.m. followed by the public hearings at 7 p.m. The previously scheduled public hearing for Sept. 11 in Clayton County will be rescheduled for a later date. Proposed bus service modifications are as follows: Route 3:MLK Jr. Drive/Auburn Ave. Route 4: Thomasville/Moreland Ave./MTC Route 13: Atlanta Student…

Public safety agencies in the metro Atlanta area are uniting to offer relief in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Henry, DeKalb and Fulton counties, city of Atlanta, Conyers, Douglasville, Dunwoody and Brookhaven, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigations have set up three collection points in Hampton, McDonough and Decatur for residents to drop off donations for hurricane relief. The agencies are asking for toiletries, non-perishable food, baby items and cleaning supplies. Donations will be accepted until Friday, Sept. 15. Drop-off locations include the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Legacy Ford on Industrial Boulevard in McDonough and New Life Church…

ATLANTA – In an effort to help ease the burden of purchasing food for low-income families affected by Hurricane Irma, the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) has released September’s allotment of food stamp benefits to all Georgia residents. Georgia recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, traditionally known as food stamps) can now access their September benefits via their electronic benefits transfer (EBT) cards and do not have to wait until their regularly-scheduled issuance date later this month. Georgia DFCS worked over the weekend with its EBT vendor, Conduent, and with the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to…

  425,000 customers still without power throughout Georgia ATLANTA – Electric service to nearly 1 million Georgia Power customers was impacted at the height of Hurricane Irma and now Georgia Power has restored power to more than 525,000 customers across the state. As of 10 p.m. (Sept. 12) approximately 425,000 customers were without power across Georgia. Company officials said as Georgia Power crews continue to work around the clock, customers should plan for extended outages, possibly days or weeks, due to the vast damage from the storm. Regional and statewide restoration estimates will be available as soon as assessment…

Stonecrest District 4 Councilman George Turner will join District 3 Councilwoman Jazzmin Cobble, DeKalb Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson and Keep DeKalb Beautiful for a community cleanup this Saturday, Sept. 16. Volunteers will meet at Walmart’s garden center parking lot on Fairington Road at 10:15 a.m. The cleanup will cover parts of District 3 and parts of District 4, concluding about 12:30 p.m. Volunteers should contact turnerg1@comcast.net or text 404 886 2053. Organizers would like to know in advance how many volunteers to prepare for.    

ATLANTA– Attorney General Chris Carr is warning consumers to be on the lookout for scams in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Bogus Charities Seeing or hearing about the devastation caused by a natural disaster evokes our sympathies and our desire to help those affected. Unfortunately, scammers realize this and do not hesitate to take advantage of people’s heightened emotions. They may pose as reputable charities soliciting donations and target consumers through unsolicited emails, telemarketing calls or by knocking on their doors. They often create legitimate-looking websites that have similar…