Author: On Common Ground News

April 18, 2017 Registered Voters: 20,643 Ballots Cast: 3,768 (18.25%) L to R: George Turner (District 4), Diane Adoma (District 5), Rob Turner (District 2) District 2 Rob Turner 437 votes (53.10%) Plez A. Joyner 386 votes (46.90%) District 4 George Turner, Jr. 867 votes(50.64 %) Mary-Pat Hector 845 votes (49.36%) District 5 Diane D. Adoma 662 votes (54.40%) Tammy L. Grimes 555 votes (45.60%)

The DeKalb County Fire Rescue Department is seeking qualified applicants for the position of fire recruit and firefighter. Applications are currently being accepted through April 30 and interested candidates must complete and submit the online application by visiting dekalbfirerescue.org. Minimum requirements include a high school diploma or GED, supplemented by one year of work experience in any field that shows an ability to maintain steady employment preferred; or any equivalent combination of education, training and experience which provides the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities for this job. The starting salary for fire recruits is $36,555 and for firefighters is $38,151.…

Conyers Police investigators are seeking two suspects who robbed Kay Jewelers, 1620 Dogwood Drive on Tuesday, April 18. Investigators also are seeking the man who robbed the BP gas station, 607 Sigman Road, Conyers on Monday, April 17. The jewelry holdup took place on Tuesday at approximately 10:20 a.m. A black male and a black female suspect entered Kay Jewelers. The male armed with a black semi-automatic handgun jumped the counter after a short conversation with an employee. An undisclosed amount of jewelry was taken from the glass display case. The male suspect is described as 5-10” and 150 pounds,…

DECATUR, Ga.— Interstate I-20 Westbound, between Candler and Gresham roads, has been shut down due to buckling in the road. At this time, there is no estimated time when the section will be reopened. Motorists are urged to seek alternative routes until further notice.   All westbound lanes of I-20 are closed. Traffic is being diverted from I-20 Westbound at I-285 to either I-285 North or I-285 South. I-20 westbound entrance ramps inside the Perimeter at Columbia Drive, Candler Road and Flat Shoals Road are closed.   Construction crews from Atlanta Gas Light were working to fill an abandoned gas…

Students at DeKalb County’s Barack H. Obama Magnet School of Technology, formerly known as Clifton Elementary, donned orange aprons to work on a special project just ahead of Easter. Home Depot provided the aprons and Do-It-Yourself Easter basket kits as part of the launch of the new school’s Beautification Club. Dr. Betty Mayfield, who founded the Beautification Club, said the project is one of many she is looking forward to as she helps students learn what it means to take ownership of their school and live up to the name of the school, which honors President Barack Obama, the first…

The Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Committee has received an ethics complaint against DeKalb Ethics Officer Stacey Kalberman. She is accused of lobbying state legislators at the direction of her board of directors to change the way appointments are made to the DeKalb Board of Ethics. The Commission said in a letter dated March 29 that it accepted the complaint Amos King filed against Kalberman, but would not consider allegations against the entire DeKalb Board of Ethics because King did not specifically identify the board members by name as required. “The vague allegation as to the “DeKalb Board of…

The City of Atlanta Municipal Court is offering amnesty to individuals facing arrest and other penalties due to delinquent traffic tickets and misdemeanors. The amnesty program, which runs April 3 through May 12, permits individuals to resolve their outstanding cases with reduced fines and fees. “Our goal is to ensure that we have licensed and lawful drivers on city streets,” said Ryan Shepard, Municipal Court Administrator. “After receiving a citation, many individuals fail to appear in court, resulting in additional fines and fees, and in some cases, a warrant being issued. The Municipal Court’s warrant amnesty program offers an opportunity…

The DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections is reminding DeKalb voters that the special elections scheduled April 18 are for voters who reside in the Sixth Congressional District or Stonecrest municipal districts 2, 4 or 5. Only voters who reside in these geographical districts are eligible to vote. Voters who are represented by Congressman Henry (Hank) Johnson of the Fourth Congressional District or Congressman John Lewis of the Fifth Congressional District are not eligible to vote on April 18 in the congressional special election. The polling places located in the Fourth and Fifth Congressional Districts will not be open…

Jordan Dillard is home for Easter break, spending time with family before graduating this May from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She will be headed to Africa in the fall where she will start her one-year fellowship with the Boston-based Shooting Touch Foundation. Through the foundation’s Basketball Health Corps program, fellows endeavor to use basketball as a tool to educate and empower at-risk youths and the communities in which they live. Dillard will be part of a team based in Rwanda where they will construct basketball courts, build teams and train coaches to run Rwanda’s first and only free youth league…

By Valerie J. Morgan Rockdale County’s Planning and Development Department is preparing a comprehensive plan to guide development over the next 20 years and is seeking the public’s opinions. During an open house on April 13 at the JP Carr Community Center in Conyers, community stakeholder shared their input on services and goals they would like the county to implement by 2037. Rockdale Commissioner Doreen Williams, who spearheaded a survey last year to improve county services, praised Kirsten Cook, an engineer in the Planning and Development Department, for organizing the open house, the first in a series planned for…