Author: On Common Ground News

The city of Stonecrest held a swearing-in ceremony at the Aug. 21 City Council meeting for the city’s two code enforcement officers: Al Ferrell, chief code enforcement officer, and Officer W. Kirkland. The officers have been out in the community responding to calls and are cracking down on signs that are illegally place in right of ways in the city. “We recently went out and picked up more than 60 signs that were illegally placed,” said Al Ferrell, Chief Code Enforcement Officer. Placing signs in right of ways such as on the grass adjacent to Turner Hill Road is illegal…

Four people will compete for three at-large seats for Lithonia’s City Council.  Incumbents William Ric Dodd, Diane W. Howard and Tracy-Ann Williams and along with Amelia Inman are running. The top three candidates who earn the most votes will be elected on Nov. 7. Like the neighboring city of Stonecrest, Lithonia’s three-day qualifying period ended on Aug. 23. To find out the candidates who qualified in other DeKalb municipalities, visit: www.dekalbcountyga.gov/voter-registration-elections/current-election-information. The voter registration deadline for the Nov. 7 election is Oct. 10. The advance voting period will be held Oct. 16 through Nov. 3.

Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary honored four state legislators, the mayor pro-tem, a news editor, an executive director, community leaders and several city employees at a recent city council meeting.  The honorees were all women. “Citizens don’t understand how we got here today,” Lary said, referring to the city’s recent progress as well as its inception.  “I want to honor this group of ladies because if it were not for the women of Stonecrest, there would be no city of Stonecrest.” The mayor’s first honorees were former State Rep. Dee Dawkins-Haigler and State Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick were instrumental with getting key…

Elizabeth Ashley Meta Young, a DeKalb County Jail Detention Officer, has been terminated from her employment with the Sheriff’s Office after being charged with providing contraband to an inmate. Young, 33, was arrested at the DeKalb County Jail on Aug. 18 and charged with Violation of Oath of Office and two counts of Crossing the State/County Guard Lines.  All charges are felonies. Deputies found large amounts of tobacco in her possession while she was on duty. According to warrants, the officer intended to deliver the tobacco to an inmate with whom she had been corresponding. An internal investigation led to…

Construction is underway for the Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) Metro Region Business Center located in DeKalb County’s District 3 at 2505 Brannen Road, Atlanta. County officials and Atlanta Gas Light executives held a groundbreaking ceremony on Aug. 18 for the new state-of-the-art business center. The 51,000-square-foot facility will offer a centralized location, enabling AGL to serve the growing metro-Atlanta service area. Officials said the project is expected to be completed some time in 2018. The architectural firm Goode Van Slyke will design the business center. Wendell Dallas, vice president of Atlanta Gas Light, said the company is delighted to bring…

Members of the Red Hat Society’s 3-L Decatur Chapter  recently gathered at New Beginning Worship Center in Decatur to donate, sort and assemble boxes of clinic supplies for local elementary schools. The group purchased the supplies to assist school nurses in providing medical care to students.  The boxes included bandages, cotton balls, cold compresses, water, juice, crackers, disinfectant wipes and hygiene products.  The boxes were decorated and delivered to Kelley Lake, Toney, Snapfinger, Rainbow and Murphy-Candler elementary schools on Aug. 21. Principals and nurses from the selected schools were excited and grateful to receive the donations.  The club’s future service projects…

DeKalb County’s North and Central police precincts will host a joint Coffee With A Cop on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 6 to 8 p.m. at Shorty’s Pizza, 3701 Lawrenceville Highway, Tucker. The evening coffee is being held for community residents to share concerns, ask questions and get to know officers in the neighborhood.

DeKalb County Board of Commissioners will host an informational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) meeting on Thursday, Aug. 31, 10 to 11:30 a.m., at Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur. Attendees will include state and county officials, city mayors and city managers who will discuss the next steps to introduce the SPLOST referendum before DeKalb County voters on Nov. 7.

DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) is hosting two free Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training classes. The first nine-week class begins on Sept. 5 and will be held on Tuesday evenings from 7–9:30 p.m. at DeKalb Fire Rescue Headquarters, 1950 West Exchange Place, Tucker. A second nine-week CERT class for the deaf and hearing-impaired, with certified American Sign Language interpreters, will begin on Sept. 7 and will be held on Thursday evenings from 7–9:30 p.m. at DeKalb Fire Rescue Headquarters. Participants will learn what to do before, during and after a disaster occurs. The training will also teach citizens…

DeKalb County State Court –Traffic Division Judge Ronald Ramsey was elected District 4 Representative for the American Bar Association’s Judicial Division – National Conference of Specialty Court Judges (NCSCJ), at its annual meeting in New York City. Ramsey will serve as an educational and membership resource to judges in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Puerto Rico. He will help to improve access to justice and other wide-ranging topics affecting the judiciary, with limited or specialized jurisdiction. Ramsey was also appointed to the NCSCJ Membership Committee and the Traffic Court Committee. He was named a presenter for the NCSCJ…