Community News

Atlanta

$3 million helps Emory, India study disease

Emory University and the Public Health Foundation of India have been awarded a $3 million, five-year contract to establish a Global Center of Excellence for Prevention and Control of Cardiometabolic Diseases in South Asia.

The grant, awarded through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health, will be used to study cardiovascular disease and diabetes in India and Pakistan. The center also will help train scientists and promote collaboration with Emory in global health research.

“It’s a very new program and these are basically being established as centers of excellence in global chronic disease research,” said K.M. Venkat Narayan, a principal investigator at the Emory Center of Excellence and the Ruth and O.C. Hubert professor of global health and epidemiology, at the Rollins School of Public Health. SHEILA POOLE

Cobb

Acworth * Austell * Kennesaw * Mableton * Marietta * Powder Springs * Smyrna * Vinings

Residents weigh in on park land options

About a dozen senior citizens lobbied for a park near their Acworth condo complex Monday night at a Cobb County government meeting. A citizens advisory committee that will recommend which land to buy with the county’s $40 million bond issue listened to the group and a half-dozen other people lobby for various tracts.

Jerry Conroy, president of the Rose Arbor Condominium Association, walks with a cane and said senior citizens support a park north of Mars Hill Road and Mars Hill Church Road. “We would appreciate a park as opposed to a gas station or a tire store,” Conroy said.

A retired Delta pilot spoke in favor of the 13 acres he’s selling on Acworth Due West Road. Charles Lowry said he would donate 1.5 acres to the county and give a 10 percent discount on the assessed price if the land were used for a park.

The advisory committee plans to meet again on July 6.

MARY LOU PICKEL

Juneteenth Celebration in Marietta Saturday

The Cobb County branch of the NAACP will have its sixth annual Juneteenth Celebration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday on the Marietta Square.

Juneteenth commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. The celebration will include food, entertainment, music, history and activities for the whole family. For information, visit www.cobbnaacp.org or call 770-425-5757. RALPH ELLIS

DeKalb

Avondale Estates * Chamblee * Clarkston * Decatur * Doraville * Dunwoody * Lithonia * Pine Lake * Stone Mountain * Tucker

Bat positive for rabies

in Avondale Estates

A homeowner in Avondale Estates captured a bat that has tested positive for rabies, prompting a rabies alert.

The bat was taken from a home on Dartmouth Avenue to DeKalb County Animal Control, which tested the animal.

No one was reported to have been infected by the bat before its capture. However, anyone who has been bitten or scratched by an animal in the area should seek medical attention.

In addition, residents are asked to monitor their pets for changes in behavior, excessive drooling or foaming at the mouth. All pets should be vaccinated against rabies.

For information about rabies and how to avoid it, contact the DeKalb County Board of Health at 404-294-3700. APRIL HUNT

Camp Sunshine wins $10,000 service award

Camp Sunshine is one of 10 groups nationally to win $10,000 from the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.’s community service program.

The money will help the Decatur camp offer programs such as swimming and horseback riding year-round for children with cancer.

It won the award in honor of Joe Whitwell, a MassMutual agent who has volunteered at the camp for more than 24 years.

APRIL HUNT

DeKalb tourism group selects its new chief

The DeKalb Convention & Visitors Bureau selected longtime Chief Operating Officer Gary A. Greenhut to succeed Jon Manns as president and chief executive officer.

The organization announced Manns’ resignation two weeks ago and said Monday that Greenhut took over the job on June 1.

Greenhut has been chief operating officer of the organization since 2001. TY TAGAMI

Fulton

Alpharetta * Chattahoochee Hills * College Park * East Point * Fairburn * Hapeville * Johns Creek * Milton * Palmetto * Roswell * Sandy Springs * Union City

Open house Saturday for new Johns Creek school

Students and parents are invited to an open house for the new Johns Creek High School from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

A ribbon cutting will be at 9:30 on the plaza in front of the school. Students will provide information and sell spirit items.

School officials don’t expect a certificate of occupancy to be issued until July 20, so the school will not be open to the public when the open house ends. Enrollment will take place at State Bridge Road Elementary School. Because phone service may be interrupted during the final phases of the moving-in process, parents and students are encouraged to seek informaation at www.johnscreekhs.net.

The school, one of several Fulton County schools to open in August, is at 5575 State Bridge Road. RALPH ELLIS

State monitors bear spotted in Sandy Springs

The state is monitoring a young black bear recently spotted in Sandy Springs.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said the bear has likely been run out of its territory by an older male because of mating season. Officials expect it will wander back north along the Chattahoochee River into the mountains in the next few weeks.

Black bears are not considered hostile but should be avoided. Officials ask you not leave food outside, including in trash containers, that could attract a bear.

Anyone who sees the bear, though, is asked to call 911 so the city and DNR can track his location. APRIL HUNT

Public comment on bridge to be Wednesday

Draft alternatives to a proposed footbridge between Sandy Springs and east Cobb County will be unveiled in a public meeting Wednesday night.

Officials from the National Park Service will show the alternatives developed after a month-long public comment period about the bridge over the Chattahoochee River.

Of 68 people who offered their thoughts on the $1.2 million span, 44 favored the bridge in general and 35 supported it for both cyclists and pedestrians. By comparison, 14 people opposed the bridge, while four wanted it for pedestrians only.

Additional comments can be given at the meeting, from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the North Fulton Government Service Center, 7741 Roswell Road. APRIL HUNT

Gwinnett

Berkeley Lake * Buford * Dacula * Duluth * Grayson * Lawrenceville * Lilburn * Norcross * Snellville * Sugar Hill * Suwanee

CIBA VISION recognized for help of health causes

CIBA VISION, a company headquartered in Duluth, recently received the 2009 Campaign Pioneer Award from the national office of Community Health Charities. CIBA VISION is a leader in the research, development and manufacturing of contact lenses and lens care products.

With a partnership that began in Georgia, this award applauds CIBA VISION’s efforts to support health causes both locally and nationally by making Community Health Charities a part of their corporate culture. The company added Community Health Charities to an existing giving campaign, and employees donated more than $115,000 in Georgia alone. SHARISE M. DARBY

Trial begins for man

accused in ax murder

Jury selection began Monday in Gwinnett County in the trial for a man accused in the ax murder of his girlfriend on Valentine’s Day eve 2008.

Shannon Marlow, 34, allegedly bashed his girlfriend, Patricia Rabold, 47, in the head with an ax at her home in Norcross. He then went on a 20-hour crack binge before returning to Rabold’s home, according to police. SWAT officers found Marlow hiding in the attic after trying for several hours to coax him outside.

Court records show Marlow was diagnosed as schizophrenic and that by age 18 he had been in and out of psychiatric treatment centers. At a preliminary hearing for Marlow last year, a Gwinnett County police detective testified that Marlow was in a “state of paranoia” when he attacked Rabold. Marlow reportedly told police he thought Rabold and another man in the house were trying to kill him. ANDRIA SIMMONS

Gwinnett Tech hosts photo contest judging

Gwinnett Tech is hosting the Professional Photographers of America’s international print competition today and Wednesday at its Lawrenceville campus.

Atlanta-based PPA is a non-profit group for professional photographers.

The contest draws nearly 5,000 images, and the judging process is open to the media and those interested in photography.

The highest-ranking images will be displayed at Imaging USA, PPA’s annual convention in Nashville, in January 2010. For information, call 404-353-5559. SHANE BLATT

Greater Atlanta

Cherokee * Clayton * Coweta * Douglas * Fayette * Forsyth * Henry * Paulding * Rockdale

Hospital to receive $478,000 donation

Southern Regional Medical Center Auxiliary will donate a total of $478,000 to the hospital at its 38th Annual Celebration and Installation Banquet today. Since 2005, the SRMC Auxiliary has donated more than $1 million to the Riverdale hospital in Clayton County.

Two checks will be presented to the hospital in the amounts of $120,000 and $358,000. The $120,000 serves as the second installment of a $245,000 pledge and the $358,000 will go toward the purchase of equipment. CRAIG SCHNEIDER

Fayette County students

get Byrd scholarships

Two Fayette County high school seniors have been named recipients of the federally funded Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship.

Taylor Lee of Whitewater High School and Ryan O’Shaughnessey of Starr’s Mill High School were among 27,000 students nationwide to receive the scholarship. Each will receive a $1,500 award for four years to help cover tuition costs at the college or university of their choice.

The program is designed to recognize exceptionally able high school seniors who show promise of continued excellence in postsecondary education. Graduates who have been accepted for enrollment at institutions of higher learning, have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement and show promise of continued academic excellence are eligible to apply for the scholarship in states in which they are residents.

The U.S. Department of Education provides grant funds to states on a formula basis.

The award is not based on the applicant’s financial need.

GRACIE BONDS STAPLES

Slain landscaper’s pickup truck found

One day after authorities arrested a 22-year-old Covington man in connection with the slaying of a landscaper, the victim’s 1991 red Ford pickup truck has been found.

The body of 55-year-old Timothy Clements of Conyers was discovered by a fisherman Friday in Snapping Shoals Creek near Ga. 212 in Newton County.

Clements’ truck was found Monday off Evans Mill Road in DeKalb County, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

The suspect, 22-year-old Pablo Maldonado, was picked up Sunday by police in Anniston, Ala.

The GBI is investigating the possibility that others were involved in the murder. Anyone with information should call the Newton County Sheriff’s Office at 678-625-1400 or GBI’s tip line at 1-800-597-8477. LARRY HARTSTEIN

State

Legislator wants law to criminalize cheating

A leading state senator says it should be a crime for Georgia educators to change students’ answers on standardized tests, and the governor has indicated he may be willing to support such a law.

Sen. Dan Weber (R-Dunwoody), who chairs the Senate’s education committee, is calling for the new law after a state audit released last week showed that answers had been altered on the fifth-grade Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests to improve scores at four elementary schools last summer.

Those found responsible for the cheating could face criminal charges under an existing law that prohibits tampering with state documents, said Bert Brantley, spokesman for Gov. Sonny Perdue.

Brantley said Perdue would support creating a new law if prosecutors do not feel existing statutes are adequate.

ASSOCIATED PRESS