COBB
Acworth police building to be renovated
The Acworth Board of Alderman has approved a $3.7 million contract with Hodges and Hicks General Contractors to renovate the old police department on Acworth Industrial Drive for jail and court administrative services. The contractors are also building a new police department next door. The board also agreed to add $138,000 to a $4 million contract for that project to allow soil remediation at the loop road and replacing concrete access to the power and public work departments. Tucker McQueen for the AJC
Stout Parkway will close through July
Stout Parkway in South Cobb County will be closed to through traffic Thursday through July 28 between Holloman and Brown Roads to replace the bridge over Gothards Creek, according to Cobb District 4 Commissioner Lisa Cupid.
Information: Cupid, 770-528-3311 or cobbdot.org.
Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC
Marietta to start summer lunch program
Marietta will run a summer lunch program June 2-July 25 to children in low-income families. The city plans to serve lunch and an afternoon snack to about 1,000 children at 19 sites around the city.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Georgia State Department of Early Care and Learning program provides meals to children during summer vacation.
Information: www.mariettaga.gov.
Tucker McQueen for the AJC
Mableton Farmers Market opens Thursday
The Mableton Improvement Coalition will open the Mableton Farmers Market from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday and each Thursday through Sept. 4 at the Mable House Arts Center, 5239 Floyd Road, Mableton.
A few local, small farmers are still being sought.
For the first time since the market’s inception in 2010, SNAP (formerly food stamp) customers’ EBT cards will be processed.
Information: mableton.org/contact-us.
Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC
Food truck Tuesdays ongoing in Smyrna
Food trucks will return to Smyrna this week 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Sept. 30 at Taylor-Brawer Park, 3180 Atlanta Road.
More than a dozen food trucks will set up each Tuesday in the park’s lower parking lot adjacent to the playground.
The event will include live music.
Information: www.smyrnacity.com.
Tucker McQueen for the AJC
Kennesaw farmers market open
The Kennesaw Farmers Market is open 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesdays in the Adams Park soccer field parking lot, 2753 Watts Drive.
The market will sell local vegetables, fruit, herbs, plants, flowers and baked goods rain or shine through Oct. 28.
Information: www.kennesaw-ga.gov.
Tucker McQueen for the AJC
GWINNETT
Lane closures continue at Jimmy Carter interchange
Drivers will experience lane closures this week as construction continues to convert the Jimmy Carter Boulevard and I-85 Interchange to a converging diamond. One right lane between Oakbrook Parkway and Goshen Springs Road will be closed 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Wednesday. Information: www.gwinnettddi.com.
Karen Huppertz for the AJC
Sugar Hill recognized by authority
The Municipal Gas Authority of Georgia has honored Sugar Hill with the 2013 Marketing Excellence Award – Highest Water Heater Installations Award. Sugar Hill obtained recognition for the greatest number of water heater installations in 2013. Sugar Hill has seen the growth of over 40 residential units during the typically slower winter construction months. Information: www.cityofsugarhill.com. Karen Huppertz for the AJC
Youngster is ‘mayor for the morning’
Sam Middleton, a student at Cornerstone Christian Academy, was proclaimed the Peachtree Corners’ ‘Honorary Mayor for the Morning’ Saturday as part of a fundraising event held at his school. Sam and his father joined Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason for a mayoral breakfast and personal tour of City Hall and Council Chambers.
Information: www.peachtreecornersga.gov. Karen Huppertz for the AJC
Duluth will honor wounded warriors
Duluth’s Memorial Day ceremony will pay special tribute to the Wounded Warrior Project at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Duluth Festival Center. The ceremony will honor our nation’s servicemen and women as well as pay special tribute to fallen and wounded soldiers.
Information: www.duluthga.net or www.woundedwarriorproject.org.
Karen Huppertz for the AJC
Dacula parade will honor fallen heroes
Dacula will honor the men and women who have given their lives in service to the military with the 21st Annual Memorial Day Parade at 10 a.m. Monday, May 26 beginning at Hebron Baptist Church, 202 Hebron Church Road. The parade proceeds down Dacula Road, turns right on Second Avenue and ends at Dacula High School.
Information: Marvin Atherton at 770-367-7371, mda411@bellsouth.net or www.daculamemorialday.com.
Karen Huppertz for the AJC
Cleanup challenge underway through May
Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful is hosting the Great American Cleanup Gwinnett Challenge, through May 31. Volunteers will beautify neighborhoods, reduce waste, initiate recycling programs, and plant trees. Open to businesses, governments, school, church and civic groups, athletic teams and individuals.
Information: www.gwinnettcb.org.
Karen Huppertz for the AJC
NORTHSIDE
Forsyth schools gives tentative budget OK
The Forsyth County Board of Education has given tentative approval to a $309.2 million budget for fiscal 2015, a roughly $20 million increase from the 2014 spending plan. The budget projects revenue of $301.3 million. The proposed document restores three furlough days, provides for the first step increases in five years, and adds 121 new positions because of student growth. New teachers (including more than 80 “regular”instructors), paraprofessionals and bus drivers are slated to be hired. The 2015 fiscal year starts July 1. Mark Woolsey for the AJC
Forsyth gets branding survey results
Forsyth County officials say more than 850 people responded to a survey on the county conducted as part of a branding initiative to include a new logo. Survey respondents ranked Lake Lanier as the county’s No. 1 physical asset and said that “quality of life” was Forsyth’s most important offering. A work group will weigh the results as it develops the new branding. Mark Woolsey for the AJC
Woodall sets June town halls
U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Ga., whose 7th District includes parts of Forsyth County, will hold a town hall 7- 8 p.m. June 5 at the Cumming Regional Readiness Center, 100 Aquatic Circle. A telephone town hall has been set for 7 p.m. June 12. Dial in is 877-229-8493. Password is 17849. Mark Woolsey for the AJC
Farmers market set in Canton
The Canton Farmers Market is ready to gear up 8 a.m.-noon Saturday at Cannon Park in downtown Canton. More than 30 vendors have signed up for the 2014 season, and will offer such local produce as tomatoes ,corn peaches and potatoes. Baked goods, specialty items, plants and other items will also be offered for sale.
For opening day this Saturday, a special children’s craft area and live music will also be offered. The market runs each Saturday through October.
Mark Woolsey for the AJC
Financial workshop offered for teens
Young people interested in learning about how to manage money can attend a financial workshop at 2 p.m. June 5 at the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library’s Northeast-Spruill Oaks branch, 9560 Spruill Road, Johns Creek.
In the Finance 101 for Teens workshop, “Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees,” a Wells Fargo personal banker will talk about how banking works, how to use money and how to plan for the future. Information: 770-360-8820.
Kent A. Miles for the AJC
Open house set on Ga. 9 project
The city of Milton Public Works Department and the Georgia Department of Transportation plan an open house 5 - 7 p.m. Wednesday at Milton City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway, on the planned widening of Ga. 9 from Windward Parkway to the Forsyth County Line. The approximately three-mile project will widen the road from two to four lanes will also include improvements to the Ga. 9-Bethany Bend intersection. Leaders says residents will be able to learn more about, and give feedback, on proposed concepts. More information: sara.leaders@cityofmiltonga.us
Mark Woolsey for the AJC
ATLANTA
Scholarships available for summer writers
The Atlanta Young Writers Institute is awarding scholarships to qualified students interested in participating in the summer writing program.
The program runs from June 9-20 for students in grades 9 through 12, and from July 8-12 for seventh and eighth graders. The summer program exposes students to top-notch writing instructors spanning a variety of styles and genres, including a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship winner, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and a National Poetry Slam finalist.
Tuition for the two-week program in June costs $1,000 and for the one-week July workshop is $500.
Students must be able to pay at least 40 percent of the tuition to qualify for the scholarships.
Information: www.aywi.org
Kent A. Miles for the AJC
Travel Military Timeline on Saturday
The Military Timeline, from the American Revolution to current conflicts, will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road with veterans present to share their stories.
Visitors with military ID will receive free admission.
The center’s Veterans Park also will be open at West Paces Ferry Road and Slaton Drive.
Information: AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/program/military-timeline.
Carolyn Cunningham for the AJC
Atlanta Aero Club to host luncheon
Jack Van Ness, executive officer of the Commemorative Air Force’s local unit, the Dixie Wing, will be the guest speaker at a luncheon of the Atlanta Aero Club, 11:30 a.m. Thursdayat 3829 Clairmont Road.
The Commemorative Air Force is a national organization dedicated to acquiring, restoring and preserving in flying condition vintage military combat aircraft.
The luncheon is $35 for club members, $45 for nonmembers.
Information: atlantaaeroclub.org
Kent A. Miles for the AJC
DEKALB
Stone Mountain woman shooting victim
Palmetto police identified the woman found shot to death Thursday along the woodline off Williams Road in Palmetto as Latonya Morris-Figg.
An autopsy determined that Morris-Figg, 45, had been shot in the head and throat, according to Palmetto police Sgt. Lee Gragg. Anyone with information should call Gragg at 770-463-9068. Mike Morris
Schools closing on record numbers
Two weeks prior to closing, enrollment in Decatur’s nine city schools is 3979, up from 2300 in 2000. Though July’s typically the heaviest period for new enrollment, City Schools Decatur’s already reached 94 percent of its projected 10 percent growth for next year, the fourth consecutive year it will grow by 10 percent more.
The system’s projected 2014-15 enrollment is 4364, which would surpass the record 4300 in 1970, just following school desegregation. Bill Banks for the AJC
County OKs improvement district
DeKalb County Commissioners recently approved creating the East Metro DeKalb Community Improvement District for a 39-square mile swath in the eastern and southern part of the county.
The CID, a self-taxing district that funds improvements in the community, includes commercial property ranging from the Stonecrest Mall to Gresham Road. District members meet in June to elect a seven-member board to oversee operations.
April Hunt
City schools moving into new home
The majority of City Schools Decatur’s 34 central-office staffers, including Superintendent Phyllis Edwards, will move this week into their new digs at the $38.3 million Beacon Municipal Center. CSD will occupy the 23,000 square-foot center building, an “adaptive reuse” of the mid-20th century Beacon Hill School. The remaining two wings of the BMC will open in July. For the last nine years CSD’s central office has been at Westchester, currently being turned back into an elementary school.
Bill Banks for the AJC
South River clean-up planned
The South River Watershed Alliance, working with several other environmental groups, will host a tire roundup and clean-up on the South River on May 30 in south DeKalb County.
Volunteers are needed to help remove trash and debris from the river at the Panola Shoals/Highway 155 area and end at Klondike Road.
Crews will work from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and must register in advance.
Questions/register: www.southriver.org.
April Hunt
Dunwoody library hosting book sale
The Friends of the Dunwoody Library is holding its Big Book Sale May 29 through June 2 at the library, 5339 Chamblee-Dunwoody Road.
Some 25,000 items will be available for purchase. All proceeds will go to purchasing new books and materials and enhancing children’s programs at the library and the DeKalb County Public Library system.
Information: 770-512-4640.
Kent A. Miles for the AJC
SOUTHSIDE
Peachtree City council approves rezoning
The City Council of Peachtree City voted 3-1-1 last Thursday to allow John Weiland Homes and Neighborhoods to build a 204-lot age-restricted subdivision on 87 acres previously zoned for industrial use. However, only 100 of the units in Wilksmoor Village can be completed before MacDuff Parkway is fully extended and open to traffic. Erik Imker voted against the measure and Mayor Vanessa Flesich abstained.
Jill Howard Church for the AJC
Special Olympics torch passing through Henry
The Special Olympic torch will be carried through Henry County May 28 just before the Georgia Summer Games at Emory University. It will leave the Publix on Hwy. 20 west of McDonough at 7:30 a.m. and travel west toward Hampton-Locust Grove Road. Local runners can run alongside the Henry County Sheriff’s Department.
Monroe Roark for the AJC
Breakfast to benefit Special Olympics
The Hampton Masonic Lodge No. 70, 34 McDonough St. will sponsor a “Breakfast for Champions” and Public Safety Expo 7-11 a.m. June 7. Proceeds benefit Henry County Parks and Recreation Special Olympics. The Public Safety Expo with fire trucks and ambulances, a car show, and a bike show is 9 a.m.-noon at Hampton First Baptist Church.
Monroe Roark for the AJC
Piedmont Henry sets ‘Walk with a Doc’
Piedmont Henry Hospital is coordinating “Walk with a Doc” events at 8:30 a.m. the fourth Saturday of each month through July at Heritage Park in McDonough.
A different physician will be participating each month and available to answer general health questions.
Each participant will receive a free pedometer and T-shirt.
Register at piedmont.org under the “Search Classes & Events” tab or by phone at 1-877-527-3712.
Monroe Roark for the AJC
Town hall meeting May 24 in Stockbridge
Henry County Commissioner Bruce Holmes’ next town hall meeting is at 9 a.m. May 24, at Crossroad Christian Church, 5365 N. Henry Blnvd. in Stockbridge. Special guests include new county manager Jim Walker, who will discuss and share his vision and goals for Henry County, along with county planning and zoning director Cheri Hobson-Matthews, who will inform citizens of the progress on the Fairview Overlay District plan and the SR 138 North Henry Blvd. Community Improvement District.
Information: www.henrycounty-ga.org.
Monroe Roark for the AJC
Applications taken for youth commission
The Fulton County Office of Children and Youth is accepting applications for the Fulton County Youth Commission, a leadership program for future leaders. Participants become familiar with how local government resolves youth issues and make suggestions for the best solutions. Deadline: Friday.
Information: Andre.Danzy@fultoncountyga.gov, www.fultoncountyga.gov or 404-612-3099.
Kent A. Miles for the AJC
