Author: On Common Ground News

Rockdale Career Academy students are building their resumes with some real work. Recently, students put their classroom knowledge to work in a real-world project to renovate the RCA media center, with funding help from the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education program.  Students from Construction teacher Brett Creel’s classes, Graphic Design teacher Shaun Freeman’s classes, and Interior Design teacher Lydia Churillo’s classes all worked on the media center over two years. Interior Design students created an idea board and helped determine the color palette, cloth patterns and furniture styles. Construction students built a scale model, measuring the entire facility and furniture, to…

DeKalb Emergency Management Agency and DeKalb Fire Rescue Reserve recently trained 160 participants at DeKalb Fire Rescue Headquarters on traumatic bleeding control as part of the nationwide Stop the Bleed Day.  Participants received instruction on bleeding control techniques from significant traumatic injuries such as workplace incidents, car accidents or an active shooter event. The course included hands-on demonstrations in which attendees practiced traumatic care of putting on tourniquets, applying pressure to slow bleeding and packing a wound with materials available.  “The Stop the Bleed training program is something that everybody in the community should take advantage of,” Emergency Management Director…

By Ruth A. Wilson Clerk of Courts By law, we, in the Clerk of Courts Office, are not permitted to provide legal advice or referrals even though we are regularly asked to do so. We want to be as helpful as possible to our patrons and constituents so we make a great effort to provide regular information on where legal assistance can be found.  Following are five free opportunities and resources: Ask A Lawyer Day, April 13 The event will be held 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., Nancy Guinn Memorial Library, 864 Green Street, Conyers. Topics:  Family, Wills & Estates,…

In an effort to share information about the proposed courthouse referendum, Rockdale County government officials have scheduled informational sessions and tours for the public.  The public will be able to view displays with information about the proposed referendum, ask questions and share concerns. The county’s upcoming informational sessions are: Tuesday, April 17, 6 – 7 p.m., Shoal Creek Elementary, 1300 McWilliams Road S.W., Conyers • Tuesday, May 15, 6 – 7 p.m., Honey Creek Elementary, 700 Honey Creek Road, S.E., Conyers The guided tours of the Rockdale County Courthouse will be held at 922 Court St., Conyers. The dates and…

The City of Conyers is inviting the public to learn more about the city’s bond referendum on the May 22 ballot. Public meetings and tours will be held on Tuesday, April 10; Thursday, April 26 and Tuesday, May 5 to 10 7 p.m., at the Conyers City Council Chambers, located on the second floor of the Conyers Police Department, 1194 Scott Street.  The city’s proposed bond will be used to upgrade the Conyers Police Department, build a dedicated municipal courtroom and construct a new City Hall. For more information, call 770-483-4411.

Keep Conyers-Rockdale Beautiful (KCRB) is accepting registration for the Great American Cleanup (GAC) , which will be held on Saturday, April 28, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m., at Pine Log Park Pavilion, 1500 Highway 138, Conyers. The deadline to register is Friday, April 20. The half-day event, which KCRB hosts in partnership with the City of Conyers and Rockdale County, encourages citizens to pick up garbage, tires and other debris around the community, and teaches youth about the importance of litter prevention and recycling. This year, the GAC event will also involve the efforts of Rockdale County officials, department directors…

The Nancy Guinn Memorial Library in Conyers now has an official book chronicling the history of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.  The AKAs’ Chi Tau Omega Chapter, which serves Rockdale and Newton counties, recently donated a copy of “Priceless Pearls – Dimensions of Sisterhood and Service” to the Nancy Guinn Library. Chapter President Joy Jackson Guilford was joined by some of the sorority’s members in making the book presentation to the library’s Assistant Director, Mary Jean Harrison, on March 30 as Women’s History Month came to a close.  The sorority’s book is being house in the Law Library and Genealogy…

State Sen. Emanuel Jones (D – Decatur), along with The Martin Luther King, Jr. Advisory Council, will host a Bell Ringing Ceremony to commemorate the life and service of Martin Luther King, Jr. The ceremony, which will be held on the 50thanniversary of the assassination of King, will take place on Wednesday, April 4, noon to 2 p.m., on top of Stone Mountain. DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond will serve as the event’s guest speaker. “It is an honor to commemorate the life of Dr. King here in particular,” said Jones. “Today, by ringing this bell, we mark another inspiring moment for…

DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond will provide a consent decree update at the Tuesday, April 10, Board of Commissioners meeting. This is the second public update on the progress toward fulfilling the requirements of the consent decree. The meeting begins at 9 a.m., at the Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive, Decatur. In December 2011, DeKalb County reached a Clean Water Act settlement in the form of a consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. The 8½-year consent decree calls for reducing sanitary sewer overflows through significant levels of sanitary sewer system inspection, assessment,…

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.…