County by county news for Thursday

Lt. Hawk Hagebak of the Special Operations Unit will discuss traffic fatalities, the Stop Arm Program and other traffic-related issues. Cobb Police Department staff use the Police Email Notification System to improve communication between the five police precincts and the communities they serve.

Information: 770-499-4185 or police.cobbcountyga.gov/pens/.

Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC

Austell business group collects for children

Members and guests of the Austell Business Association are asked to bring a toy, fast-food gift card or movie pass for one of the 26 children who reside at Calvary Children’s Home in Powder Springs to the meeting 11:45 a.m. Tuesday in the first-floor courtroom, City of Austell Threadmill Complex, 5000 Austell Powder Springs Road, Austell.

Information: felicia@servproswcobb.com or info@calvarykids.org.

Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC

Powder Springs seeks two new employees

Powder Springs wants to hire a police officer and a maintenance worker to conduct stormwater inspections, among other duties, in its streets division.

The police officer position will be open until Dec. 28 with a starting salary of $36,346.

The salary range for the maintenance worker is between $24,600 and $38,130.

Information: 770-943-1666 or cityofpowdersprings.org/index.aspx?NID=119.

Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC

Cobb program to help 1,400 families

Cobb Christmas Inc., a volunteer non-profit group, plans to help 1,400 low-income families with gifts and food boxes Friday to Sunday at Jim R. Miller Park, 2245 Callaway Road, Marietta.

Donations can be dropped at the park starting today. Tucker McQueen for the AJC

Marietta picked for recycling challenge

Marietta is one of 50 communities from around the country selected to participate in a recycling competition that could add $100,000 to the city’s conservation efforts. The city with the most residents reporting their recycling efforts will win the six-month, SC Johnson Green Choices Recycling Challenge through Dec. 31. Information: www.recyclebank.com/greenchoices. Tucker McQueen

Hope for Christmas donations needed

Participants, volunteers and donations are sought for Hope for Christmas, providing toys and food for more than 10,000.

Registered families may come to party where children will make a craft, see Santa and visit the Secret Santa Shop to choose a gift for their parents.

Four donation locations include West Ridge Church - East Paulding Campus, 3522 Hiram Acworth Highway, Dallas; West Ridge Church - Cartersville Campus, 245 S. Tennessee St., Cartersville; GracePointe Marietta Church, 505 Atlanta St., Marietta and Trinity Chapel, 4665 Macland Road, Powder Springs.

Information: hopeforchristmas.com/help.

Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC

GWINNETT

Lasseter reported to prison Wednesday

Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Shirley Lasseter reports to a Florida prison Wednesday.

Lasseter will be held at Federal Prison Camp Marianna in Marianna, Fla., to serve a 33-month sentence on a bribery charge. In May Lasseter resigned her commission post and admitted accepting $36,500 from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for her vote on a Boggs Road real estate development.

Three others also have pleaded guilty to bribery and other charges in the ongoing federal corruption investigation.

David Wickert

Commission buys Fort Daniel site

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Tuesday agreed to buy the Fort Daniel historic site on Braselton Highway.The county will pay owner Ann P. Grant $241,000 for the 4.3-acre property.

The county plans to use the site for educational purposes. Funds for the purchase came from a 2009 special local option sales tax approved by voters. David Wickert

Duncan Creek’s Ellet claims honor

Jackie Ellet, a fine arts specialist at Gwinnett County’s Duncan Creek Elementary, was named by the National Art Education Association as the organization’s 2012 Southeastern Art Educator of the Year. This program recognizes the outstanding service of educators, focuses professional attention on exemplary art educators and increases public awareness of the importance of quality art education. Nancy Badertscher

Maintenance will close vehicle tag office

The Georgia Department of Revenue will perform computer maintenance on its vehicle registration system 7 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday. The state registration system will be unavailable and the North Gwinnett Tag Office will be closed on Saturday.

Customers will not be able to renew their tags online or on the state tag renewal telephone line. Karen Huppertz for the AJC

Peachtree Corners to host contest

The 2nd Annual Peachtree Corners Christmas Run and Costume Contest will be held Saturday morning and includes a 10K, 5K and 1-mile run/walk with proceeds benefiting the Marine Corps’ Toys For Tots campaign.

Information: www.Spincycle Sports.com. Karen Huppertz for the AJC

Timeframe for Lilburn complex extended

Lilburn has given developers an additional year to bring a Big League Dreams baseball complex to 37 recently purchased acres near the corner of Indian Trail Road and Lawrenceville Highway, the site of the abandoned Jackson Creek Water Treatment Plant. The complex would feature four fields — replicas of Major League Baseball’s Turner Field, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium — and two other fields.

Originally put to paper in 2010, the facility is expected to attract tournaments and enhance Lilburn’s economy. “Big League Dreams could be an economic game changer,” City Manager Bill Johnsa said. Michael Alpert for the AJC

NORTHSIDE

Rotary Club plans project to enhance North Park

The Rotary Club of North Fulton recently won permission to construct a reflection garden at Alpharetta’s North Park.

The project, designed by Richard Owens Environmental Design, will be the club’s third project at the park.

The garden will feature a rustic pergola as an attractive focal point from the road, multiple benches and brick pavers.

The community can contribute to the project by purchasing the engraved pavers or contributing to the cost of the benches and pergola. Information: www.northfultonrotary.org. Patrick Fox

Forsyth completes new wastewater facility

Forsyth County recently completed a regional wastewater lift station and force main on McGinnis Ferry Road that is projected to save the county’s water and sewer department nearly $1 million a year in operational costs.

The $7.6 million project is sized to handle flows generated by future development in south Forsyth County.

It includes a concrete diversion structure which diverts wastewater that previously flowed to a Fulton County treatment facility to the county’s own treatment facility.

Water and sewer officials say the new station should pay for itself in seven years. Patrick Fox

Alpharetta students learn about nature

The naturalists from the Chattahoochee Nature Center recently visited Alpharetta Elementary School. They were there to enrich the Georgia science curriculum for the school’s third graders.

Students learned about Georgia animals and their habitats and what’s helped them thrive in this state. Nancy Badertscher

Canton holiday homes tour planned

The Cherokee County Historical Society plans its first annual Historic Canton Holiday Tour of Homes Friday and Saturday.

The tour will showcase three private homes, and will also feature three public and commercial buildings decorated for the season.

Proceeds will benefit the society. Info and tickets: www.rockbarn.org Mark Woolsey for the AJC

Luncheon to benefit senior services

Cameron Hall Assisted Living Center will host an Italian luncheon 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the center, 240 Marietta Highway, Canton.

Lunch is $5. All proceeds will benefit the Volunteer Aging Council of Cherokee County, an organization that encourages volunteerism and develops fund raising activities to benefit senior service programs.

Information: 770-720-0290.

Veronica Fields Johnson

Forsyth hosts free shredding service

Forsyth County residents are being offered free document-shredding in December. Keep Forsyth County Beautiful and Shredderman Document Destructon Service, 3605 North Parkway, Cumming teamed up.

Shredderman will offer paper document, file box, CD, DVD, VHS tape, empty prescription bottle and X-ray destruction 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. weekdays.

Information: 770-205-4573.

Mark Woolsey for the AJC

ATLANTA

Arrest made in death of Atlanta businessman

Ladarius Hardy was arrested Tuesday in the fatal shooting of Terry Porter, 39, who owned several businesses in the metro area. Porter was found dead outside his South Gordon Street home in southwest Atlanta on Nov. 12. Neighbors told police they heard a shot fired around 2:30 a.m. Porter, whose businesses included a DeKalb County assisted living center, had been shot in the head and his black Range Rover was gone, police said.

Porter’s vehicle was later found at a Midtown apartment complex.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477. Angel K. Brooks

Laptops stolen from charter school

More than two dozen Apple laptops and computers were stolen Tuesday from charter school KIPP Atlanta Collegiate on Anderson Avenue.

Police believe five people in black hoodies crawled inside the building after climbing onto a second-story roof and breaking a window. They tore locks from doors and, once inside, the thieves cleared desktops and cabinets of the computers, leaving only Apple monitors.

Anyone with information should contact police at 404-577-8477. Christopher Seward

Wellspring Living receives grant

Wellspring Living has has received a $100,000 grant from Ribbons of Hope to help fight childhood sexual abuse and trafficking in Atlanta.

The money will fund the construction of living quarters for 20 girls at Wellspring for Girls, one of the organization’s three comprehensive healing programs. Shelia M. Poole

Accountants to host scholarship fundraiser

The Atlanta Chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants will host a Casino Holiday Fundraiser 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Friday at the Sloppy Floyd Building, 200 Piedmont Ave., S.E. Proceeds will benefit the organization’s Student Scholarship Fund.

Tickets: $25; $30. Information: www.nabaatl.org. Veronica Fields Johnson

DEKALB

Bond denied for teen accused of killing sister

Bond was denied Tuesday for a 13-year-old girl accused of killing her 2-year-old half-sister on Nov. 19, then stashing the body behind the family’s townhouse on Waldrop Trail in DeKalb.

The suspect’s attorney asked that a signature bond be issued that would have placed the eighth grader in her great-grandmother’s custody.

Prosecutor Darius Pattillo opposed bond, citing the “heinous and inexplicable nature of the offense.”

In keeping with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s policy, the juvenile’s name was not included even though she has been publicly identified and charged as an adult. Christian Boone

Child enticement suspect arrested

Police arrested a man Wednesday suspected of offering a child money for sexual favors at Perimeter Mall.

Ronald Cox, 42, of Lithonia was arrested on charges of child molestation by solicit, said Dunwoody police in a press release.

Police believe Cox approached a 15-year-old boy in a Perimeter Mall bathroom at about 7 p.m. Nov. 12 a. and offered him a “wad of cash” for sex.

The teen wasn’t physically harmed, fled the bathroom and told mall security. Staff

Chamber hires new membership director

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce has hired Katerina Taylor as membership director who also will work on developing new programs.

Taylor previously served as a vice president with Sun Trust Bank and has also been involved in regional charities.

Information: 404-378-8000 ext.224 or www.dekalbchamber.org. April Hunt

DeKalb hires deputy development director

DeKalb County has hired Luz Borrero, Atlanta’s former deputy chief operating officer as deputy development head.

She will oversee the county’s planning, community and economic development offices along with the workforce development unit.

Borrero, who has a law degree from the University of Santiago de Cali, will earn $153,360 in the new job. April Hunt

Volunteers needed for plant restoration

Volunteers are needed to help plant native species in Mason Mill Park in central DeKalb County.

The event at 10 a.m. to noon Saturday is part of an ongoing project with the Atlanta Botanical Gardens along the park’s boardwalk.

Participants should meet at the boardwalk along the South Peachtree Creek trail, accessible from the park entry at Willivee Drive and Scott Circle. April Hunt

Doraville moving on hire of city manager

A search firm working with Doraville to hire its first city manager will present a list of semi-finalists this week.

City officials expect to interview candidates over the next month and hire a manager by early next year.

Voters approved switching to a professional manager form of government last year. The manager will handle daily government operations, tasks that had been held by a full-time mayor.

April Hunt

SOUTHSIDE

Henry reduces number of commission meetings

When the Henry County Board of Commissioners convenes for its first meeting in January, it will be under a new schedule that reduces the number of monthly meetings from four to two. In keeping with the current county ordinance, the board will convene every first Tuesday at 9 a.m. and every third Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.

If any meeting date falls on a regular holiday, the meeting will be held the following Tuesday, so the first meeting of 2013 will take place Jan. 8. Information: www.henrycounty-ga.org. Monroe Roark for the AJC

Henry proposes 2013-2014 calendar

The Henry County School System has released its proposed 2013-14 calendar for public comment. Under the new plan the first day of school is Aug. 5, and fall break would move from September to the second week of October.

The new calendar is based on a 175-day school year with six furlough days for administrators and five furlough days for other employees.

Information: www.henry.k12.ga.us. Monroe Roark for the AJC

Library to host holiday program

The Friends of the Peachtree City Library will host a free family holiday program featuring stories and music 1:30 to 3 p.m. Saturday at the library, 201 Willowbend Road.

Storyteller Josie Bailey, publisher of inspirational and education books and CDs, will be the presenter. Refreshments will be served. Information: 770-631-2520.

Veronica Fields Johnson

East Point Holiday Market Saturday

The East Point Holiday Market celebrates the season 9 a.m.-noon, Saturday at Fire Station No.1, 2757 East Point St.

The market features local artists and handmade products as well as, restaurants accepting holiday pre-orders and ready to eat food vendors that incorporate local ingredients.

Information: www.EastPointFarmersMarket.com. John Thompson for the AJC

College Park Christmas parade Saturday

The College Park Recreation Department hold its 37th annual Christmas parade at 11 a.m, Saturday on Main Street. Enjoy dance troupes, music, honor guards, and a host of participants for this festive occasion. Richard D. Zupp Jr., a resident of College Park since 1948, is the honorary parade chairman and marshal.

Zupp is a distinguished and passionate community leader who works tirelessly for the College Park community through volunteering countless hours of his time. Zupp is also chairman of College Park Youth Sports and the founder of the youth football program. John Thompson

Fayette Library Board has openings

Two at-large positions on the Fayette County Library Board are open for applications. Volunteers serve four-year terms to oversee and improve library operations. The board usually meets in January, April, June and October.

Applications are due Jan. 4; contact Floyd Jones at fjones@fayettecountyga.gov or 770-305-5102. Jill Howard Church for the AJC