A ribbon cutting ceremony was held recently officially re-opening Cobb County Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs’ fully renovated and expanded Cobb Gymnastics Center. The building was recently expanded to include 7,300 square feet with additional program area, new offices, concession area, restrooms, lobby and mezzanine spectator area. Renovation of the 30-year-old building and addition of the floor area will enable the County to expand gymnastics class offerings and competitive team opportunities.

The cost of the project was $1.4 million and was completed in about six months. The Cobb Gymnastics Center is located at 542 Fairground St., Marietta, in Larry Bell Park near the intersection of Clay Street (South 120 Loop) and Fairground Street. The Gymnastics Center offers both instructional and competitive programs throughout the year. Programs include gymnastics classes and camps, cheer gymnastics, martial arts and dance.

All levels of gymnastics instruction is offered for boys and girls ages 2 years through high school age. Hours of operation are Monday - Thursday 10 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.; Friday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.; and Saturday 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (on days of classes only.) For more information, please call 770-528-8475, or visit the official site here .

It looks like the lil’ chickens of marietta have launched their website! Be sure to stop over an check out the Artist Design Gallery to see the cool renderings of the lil chickens that will be produced by each Artist. I can’t wait to see them all over the city, how cool. Also, if you are a business or know of someone that would be interested in sponsoring a lil chicken, be sure to head over to the sponsorship page…enjoy and Happy 4th of July to everyone! Hope to see you out at the Square today for the festivities!

Special thanks to the AJC for the article on our beloved Theatre in the Square…

in the park on the Marietta Square.

The public is invited to enjoy birthday cake, drawings for theater tickets and music by the cast of “Smoke on the Mountain.” The annual summer musical and “The 1940s Radio Hour” have been big money-makers for the theater.

This season’s first play is also drawing big crowds, said marketing director M.J Conboy.

“Turned Funny,” based on the memoirs of Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Celestine Sibley, is selling out some nights, she said. Last week, 96 percent of the seats were full.

“That’s unheard of. It’s a wonderful thing for us,” she said. “We’ve had to add two phone lines to handle the calls.”

Palmer Wells, producing director, and the late Michael Horne opened the theater with 85 seats in a freight storage room behind the former Marietta train depot. It was a low-budget venture the first three years, Wells said.

Patrons often brought cushions to pad straight-back chairs. And Wells and Horne, who worked for IBM, took turns during lunch checking the theater’s answering machine.

“There was a buzz on opening night and

we knew that this was going to work,” said Wells, 69. “For all of the ups and downs through the years, this has been amazingly satisfying.”

The theater, now at 11 Whitlock Ave., seats 225 for main stage performances and 123 at the Alley Stage at the back of the building. The theater had 3,700 season subscribers last year and a budget of more than $1.7 million.

“I can’t imagine not doing this,” said Wells. “I wouldn’t look back for a minute. I am always looking ahead.”

Information: 770-422-8369 or www.theatreinthesquare.com.

I thought I would post this story. Praise God they have found this sicko. Last night I was watching Patsy’s sister on Fox News - she made an excellent point that even if they never did catch whoever did this, that we have a just God and one day, he/she would be accountable. It makes me sad for the Ramsy’s and how much scrutiny they went through over the past 10 years. Any thoughts?

BOULDER, Colo. - A former schoolteacher was arrested Wednesday in Thailand in the slaying of 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey - a surprise breakthrough in a lurid, decade-old murder mystery that had cast a cloud of suspicion over her parents.

Ramsey family attorney Lin Wood identified the suspect as John Mark Karr, 41. Federal officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the name, and one law enforcement official told The Associated Press that Boulder police had tracked him down online.

Wood said the arrest vindicated JonBenet’s parents, John and Patsy Ramsey. Patsy Ramsey died of ovarian cancer June 24.

“John and Patsy lived their lives knowing they were innocent, trying to raise a son despite the furor around them,” Wood said. “The story of this family is a story of courage, and story of an American injustice and tragedy that ultimately people will have to look back on and hopefully learn from.”

The attorney said the Ramseys learned about the suspect at least a month before Patsy Ramsey’s death. “It’s been a very long 10 years, and I’m just sorry Patsy isn’t here for me to hug her neck,” Wood said.

Karr was a teacher who once lived in Conyers, Ga., according to Wood. The attorney said the Ramseys gave police information about Karr before he was identified as a suspect.

Wood would not say how the Ramseys knew Karr. But JonBenet was born in Atlanta in 1990, and the Ramseys lived in the Atlanta suburb of Dunwoody for several years before moving to Colorado in 1991.

Thai police said that when Karr was arrested, he denied any involvement in JonBenet’s slaying. But a source close to the investigation in the U.S. said Karr confessed to certain elements of the crime. Also, a law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the AP that Karr had been communicating periodically with somebody in Boulder who had been following the case and cooperating with law enforcement officials.

District Attorney Mary Lacy said the arrest followed several months of work, but she said no details would be released until Thursday.

U.S. authorities said Karr was initially taken into custody in Bangkok on unrelated sex charges. But Thai police Lt. Gen. Suwat Tumrongsiskul said he was unaware of any criminal charges the suspect faced in Thailand.

Karr was arrested at his apartment in downtown Bangkok at the request of U.S. officials, and was being held until they arrived, Thai police said. Suwat said he expected U.S. officials to take Karr back to America in the next few days.

Karr’s brother in an interview with WAGA-TV in Atlanta called the accusations “ridiculous, without a doubt.”

Nate Karr added that suspicious e-mails cited by authorities related to a book his brother was writing. He declined to comment further, saying the family would have more to say on Thursday.

JonBenet was found beaten and strangled in the basement of the family’s home in Boulder on Dec. 26, 1996. Patsy Ramsey reported finding a ransom note in the house demanding $118,000 for her daughter.

The image of blonde-haired little JonBenet in a cowgirl costume and other beauty pageant outfits has haunted TV talk shows ever since, helping feed myriad theories about her killer, and the case became one of the most sensational unsolved murder cases in the nation.

Over the years, some experts suggested that investigators had botched the case so thoroughly that it might never be solved.

Investigators at one point said JonBenet’s parents were under an “umbrella of suspicion” in the slaying. And some news accounts cast suspicion on JonBenet’s older brother. But the Ramseys insisted an intruder killed their daughter, and no one was ever charged.

In the months after the slaying, Patsy Ramsey went before the cameras, vigorously defending herself and her husband, chastising the media and blasting local law enforcement as incompetent.

In a statement Wednesday, John Ramsey said: “Patsy was aware that authorities were close to making an arrest in the case, and had she lived to see this day, would no doubt have been as pleased as I am with today’s development almost 10 years after our daughter’s murder.”

The Ramseys moved back to Atlanta after their daughter’s slaying.

Wood lashed out at the frenzy that long surrounded the case, and he accused the media of “the most obscene false accusations.” “I think the public’s mind was so poisoned against this family that no one was able for too many years to look at the evidence,” he said.

Patsy Ramsey’s sister, Pam Paugh, of Roswell, Ga., said the family was celebrating the news of the arrest. “We are elated. We are elated. If this is, in fact, the killer, then we have a very heinous killer off the streets to never harm another child,” Paugh said.

Lib Waters of Marietta, Ga., visited the gravesites of Patsy and JonBenet Ramsey in the Atlanta suburb immediately after hearing news reports about the arrest.

Waters, who described herself as a longtime friend of the Ramsey family, taped a piece of notebook paper to JonBenet Ramsey’s headstone that read: “Dearest Patsy, Justice has come for you and Jon. Rest in peace.”

In 2003, a federal judge in Atlanta concluded that the evidence she reviewed suggested an intruder killed JonBenet. That opinion came with the judge’s decision to dismiss a libel and slander lawsuit against the Ramseys by a freelance journalist, whom the Ramseys had named as a suspect in their daughter’s murder. The Boulder district attorney at the time said she agreed with the judge’s declaration.

“Today is additional vindication of the family,” Wood said.

Wood said he and the Ramseys “have been totally amazed and impressed with the professionalism of law enforcement” under Lacy’s direction. Lacy became district attorney in 2001.

Lawrence Schiller, author of the 1999 book “Perfect Murder, Perfect Town” about the case, said Wednesday he understood the man had been on a list of sexual offenders who were suspects for a long time.

“There are a lot of facts about her actual death that the public does not know.” Schiller said. “If he did confess to some facts of the murder, to reveal those facts of the case, that would finish the puzzle.”

Among the facts he said were not generally known was the murder weapon and what the killer did with it.

DNA was found beneath JonBenet’s fingernails and inside her underwear, but Wood said two years ago that detectives were unable to match it to anyone in an FBI database. It was not immediately known Wednesday whether investigators had any DNA evidence against Karr.

Bob Grant, a former Adams County district attorney who worked on the case, said there was never enough evidence to convince him that any potential suspect could be successfully prosecuted.

“I wasn’t convinced it was an inside job, nor was I convinced it was an outside job,” he said. “All the outside suspects were cleared after exhaustive investigation, and there were a whole lot of outside suspects.”

Associated Press Writers Suzanne Gamboa and Lara Jakes Jordan in Washington; Jon Sarche, Judith Kohler, Robert Weller and Chase Squires in Denver; Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles; Harry R. Weber in Atlanta; and Doug Gross in Marietta, Ga., contributed to this report.

(Marietta, Ga. - August 15, 2006) Cobb County transportation officials will hold a second round of public meetings on the county’s Comprehensive Transportation Plan.

The study addresses mobility, safety and air quality challenges over the next 25 years for Cobb and its six partner cities. The study was launched in Jan. 2006 and will conclude in Oct. 2007. In a first round of meetings in April, widespread interest was shown in various approaches to improving mobility and the environment, including more mass transit, better connectivity, land use/transportation integration, more green space and improved bicycle and pedestrian networks.

At the second round of public meetings, transportation officials will update the public on what has been accomplished to date and ask for additional input. Citizens are encouraged to attend, as planners seek ideas from as many citizens as possible.

Second Round Public Meetings

Aug. 16 – 7–9 p.m. East Cobb Government Service Center, 4400 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta
Aug. 17 - 7–9 p.m. Kennesaw Community Center, 2753 Watts Drive, Kennesaw
Aug. 23 - 5:30–7:30 p.m. Cobb County Central Library, 266 Roswell Road, Marietta
Aug. 24 - 7–9 p.m. Ford Center, 4181 Atlanta Street, Powder Springs

For more information:

Laraine A. Vance, Project Manager
Cobb County Department of Transportation
1890 County Services Parkway, Marietta, Georgia 30008
(770) 528-1679

###

Released by:
David Layman
Robert J. Quigley
(770) 528-1105

Hundreds turned out for a party on the historic downtown Square to
celebrate Marietta being named of the 10 best cities in America. U.S.
Congressman Phil Gingrey congratulated the community, and Governor
Perdue sent a proclamation recognizing Marietta’s achievement as a 2006
All-America City.

The award is the oldest and most respected community
recognition program in the country. Nearly 600 communities began the
application process, and Marietta beat other national finalists for the
award, which recognizes exemplary grassroots community problem-solving.

The Marietta Master Chorale, conducted by Jerid Morisco, started the party by singing Georgia on Mind and America the Beautiful. Volunteers served free hot dogs, cake and drinks, and children enjoyed balloon animals and face painting.

Sharon Metz, a member of the National Civic League board and juror for the national competition, congratulated Marietta on behalf of the organization that crowned the winners. She explained the importance of the award to the community and why judges chose Marietta as one of the country’s best cities.

Marietta City Manager Bill Bruton and Mayor Bill Dunaway presented each member of the team who competed in California a plaque. Members of city council also thanked the community organizations that were a part of Marietta’s application for the award.

The Mustangs played a free outdoor concert, and the crowd wrapped up the evening by doing the chicken dance and electric slide.

The All-America City award is like the “Academy Award®” for cities and means the work the community is doing is among the best in the country. Since 1949, the All-America City award has recognized civic excellence, honoring communities of all sizes where citizens, government, businesses and volunteer organizations work together to address critical local issues.   

Being selected a winner substantiates Marietta is a model for the nation with extensive planning efforts and approaches to facing difficult challenges in innovative and collaborative ways. Winners in previous years have been honored at the White House.

Marietta applied for the award and was selected a finalist. Then a delegation of community members presented the city’s programs and successes to a jury of national civic affairs experts during a three-day competition against other finalists in Anaheim, California.

Marietta presented several community projects to the judges. The first was Marietta’s efforts to reduce crime and stabilize deteriorating neighborhoods by creating M-STAR. The citywide program combines community policing and computer analysis of crime trends with accountability of city staff and public involvement. M-STAR has resulted in many successes, the most notable being a 22 percent reduction of crime.

The Marietta Revitalization Program was the second initiative submitted to judges. Its goal is to save the city from decline and create a stronger sense of community by balancing the city’s housing stock, stabilizing school enrollments, creating affordable workforce housing and revitalizing neighborhoods. The city has made substantial progress toward increasing the percentage of homeowners while reducing substandard rental units. Over $335 million has been invested in Marietta’s redevelopment.

Judges required a program to benefit children, and the city highlighted Marietta Reads. The citywide effort to foster reading and literacy has increased student test scores and book circulation, while students read one billion words.

Dozens of community organizations and programs were cited in the city’s award application, and many were part of the delegation that competed before the jury. Everyone in Marietta should be proud, because winning the award is the result of the entire community working together every day.

Allgood Neighborhood Revitalization Task Force
Atlanta Regional Commission
Aviation Museum
Boys and Girls Club
Brown Park Cemetery Restoration Project
Center for Family Resources
Chattahoochee Technical College
Citizens Government Academy
Citizens Police Academy
Civil Service Commission
Clean City Commission
Cobb Chamber of Commerce
Cobb County
Cobb County Comprehensive Traffic Plan Task Force
Cobb Housing, Inc.
Cobb Landmarks and Historical Society
Cobb Municipal Association
Cobb/Paulding Regional Transportation Task Force
Communities in Schools of Marietta/Cobb County
Community Leadership Development Program
Downtown Marietta Development Authority
Faith based organizations, including local mosque
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Franklin Road Community Association
Franklin Road Task Force
Georgia Ballet
Georgia Department of Education
Georgia Department of Transportation
Georgia Municipal Association
Homeowners’ associations
IMPACT
Keep Marietta Beautiful
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield
Kennesaw State University
Kiwanis Club of Marietta
Latin American Association
Leadership Cobb
Loop Group neighborhood association
Marietta Business Association
Marietta City Schools
Marietta Civitan Club
Marietta Housing Authority
Marietta Initiative for Neighborhood Transformation
Marietta Mayor and City Council
Marietta Metro Rotary Club
Marietta Museum of History
Marietta Parks and Recreation Department
Marietta Planning Commission
Marietta Reads!
Marietta Redevelopment Corporation
Marietta Schools Foundation
Marietta Tree Keepers
Marietta Weed and Seed committee
Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art
M-Star community policing program
MUST Ministries
NAACP
Powder Springs Road Master Plan participants
Root House
Rotary Club of Marietta
Southern Polytechnic State University
Strand Theatre
Theatre in the Square
WellStar Health System

###

Marietta City Council approved route C as the local preferred alternative for the Powder Springs Road Connector at its meeting August 9, 2006. The Powder Springs Road Connector is a transportation improvement project that would link Powder Springs Road with South Cobb Drive to reroute traffic before it reaches the city center.

Alternative C begins at Powder Springs Road north of the Brownstone Square subdivision. The new four-lane road would have a median and run between Brownstone Square subdivision and Sourwood Circle. The road would turn eastward to Sandtown Road and follow a newly widened four-lane Leader Road with a median to South Cobb Parkway.

Voters approved funding for the project as part of the 2005 Cobb County special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) for transportation improvement projects. Although Marietta City Council previously approved a route for the Connector, the current Council recommended a new preference, which will be submitted to county and state transportation officials for their consideration. Cobb County and the state of Georgia must also agree on the preferred route before funding can be authorized.

The $15 million Powder Springs Connector is currently on the Atlanta Regional Commission’s long-range plan with funding for engineering to begin in 2006, right of way acquisition to begin 2012-2020 and construction to begin 2021-2030. The city of Marietta and Cobb County plan to request that the project be moved forward to the Transportation Improvement Plan for right of way acquisition in 2008 and construction in 2010.

For more information, call 770-794-5650.

Thanks to the AJC for content of this article:

An entire class of Cobb County police recruits was fired Monday after they cheated on a test, authorities said. A police academy instructor caught two recruits comparing answers during a written exam last week. After the academy alerted Mickey Lloyd, Cobb’s public safety director, on Friday, he ordered an inquest and soon learned that all 20 recruits had cheated, he said.

Most of the recruits admitted to cheating when asked about it, Lloyd said. “They’d gotten together and decided none of them was going to fail,” said Lloyd. It’s not clear how the recruits cheated, though Lloyd said they did not steal the test.

The news “dismayed” Cobb County Commissioner Helen Goreham, but she praised the swift response in drumming out the recruits suspected of cheating. “Integrity with our police officers is something we do not skimp on,” said Goreham, the commissioners’ public safety liaison. “The level of service our officers provide the citizenry is top-notch. We will not tolerate an incident of this type.” Investigators do not plan to file criminal charges against any class members — a mix of men and women of various backgrounds — but they might not ever wear a law enforcement badge in Georgia, Lloyd said. Authorities did not release the recruits’ names.

To get into the class, recruits had to have at least a high school diploma and pass a background check as well as psychiatric and polygraph tests — measures intended to weed out certain would-be cops. “You’d think you’d have the cream of the crop,” Lloyd said. The recruits were county employees training to become sworn police officers. They were in the fifth week of a 22-week training period required to join about 600 officers on Cobb’s police force, where salaries start around $34,600.

“The Cobb County Police Department is among the best in the state,” Lloyd said. “There are a lot of fine officers out there. They work hard and they’re honest. This had to be done in order to maintain this reputation.” “Everybody’s very disturbed about it,” said police spokesman Dana Pierce. “It’s a disappointment to all of us.”

So, what is your opinion of Marietta’s Police Department? What experiences have you had with our officers in blue?

Check out what some Cobb residents are doing to keep everyone informed about what’s going on in our area. Thanks to the MDJ for contributing content of the following article.

COBB COUNTY - Site administrator Gordon Edwards started www.scancobb.com in December 2004. It lets visitors listen to scanners that report radio transmissions of Cobb County police and fire departments. Edwards also runs www.scancherokee.com and www.scanpaulding.com. The Cobb page is a sister site to several others of its kind in metro-Atlanta.

The site does not require visitors to register to listen to scanners or read discussion forums, but those who want to participate in the forums must register. There also is no fee associated with using the site.

Another ScanCobb administrator, Andrew Cohen, lives in Kennesaw, but works in Alpharetta. He got involved with the site so he could check Cobb police and fire radios while at work.

A main computer and two scanners set up at Cohen’s Kennesaw home, as well as a third scanner another ScanCobb registered user owns, are broadcast on the site. The site has approximately 15,000 subscribers from across Cobb and Georgia.

Visitors also can sign up for a free e-mail service that notifies them when someone living in their zip code is added to the state’s sex offender registry. The notifications, Edwards said, contain the name, address, photo of the sex offender and a Web link to a sex offender site where people can see the location of the offender on a map.

Although users are not required to pay to use ScanCobb, many have given generously. Cohen said in the past year, users have donated more than $1,000 to buytwo new digital scanners to keep up with Cobb’s move to digital radios for public safety personnel.

“I’d say the greatest benefit is that you can instantly find out, any time day or night, what’s happening around you from a law enforcement and emergency services perspective,” Cohen said. “You don’t have to ask neighbors and get it secondhand or wait for the six o’clock news or tomorrow’s paper. There’s nothing like knowing what’s happening while it’s happening, even if it may be developing and all the facts aren’t clear.”

With all the jargon and numerical codes police officers and firefighters use when reporting over radio, one might think it’s hard to understand what’s going on. ScanCobb has that covered, too. The site lists all the number codes used to describe a situation. For example, 30 indicates a report of a drunken driver; code seven is a request for backup; and 10-4, means OK, or affirmative.

Cohen said he believes most users visit the site to monitor activity that might not be high profile enough to make the news, but nonetheless concerns the safety of their neighborhoods. Edwards said the site is soliciting donations to buy an additional digital scanner. Visitors can donate online at www.ScanCobb.com.

According to this latest MDJ article, the city is taking on Historic homes in a major way! Any thoughts?

MARIETTA - Owners of historic homes in downtown Marietta want more protection for their properties, but not too much.

Ward 4 City Councilman Van Pearlberg will hold a town hall meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 8 at City Hall to discuss a new historic preservation ordinance with city residents.

“My objective is to inform and educate the community,” he said.

That community includes more than 150 historic homes adjacent to Marietta Square built between 1900 and 1950, with some older homes in Whitlock Heights possibly included.

Pearlberg said a panel of historic preservation authorities would be on hand to talk with residents about different ordinances, including Cobb Landmarks President Daryl Barksdale.

Pearlberg said he wants to see the state-level ordinance in place because under that, communities are eligible for state preservation grants.

He added that all the ordinance proposals should be looked at before a decision is made.

“I don’t think we should put money before property rights,” he said.

The councilman said some residents are worried about the state-level ordinance.

“People are concerned they’re giving up property rights,” he said. “I don’t think they are.”

The city’s historic preservation ordinance requires 60 percent of a community vote to become a historic district.

If 60 percent approve, the area becomes a historic district. Otherwise, no protection is given.

Mayor Bill Dunaway said under this city ordinance, single homeowners and landlords could opt out.

“The state-certified ordinance cannot have opt-out clauses,” he said.

Dunaway added he preferred the state-level ordinance for the city because it would set a standard for all properties, whereas the city’s ordinance establishes different rules for different districts.

“It’s not one size fits all,” he said.

Pearlberg said historic preservation ordinances have been proven to increase property values and bring more tourists to a community.

He said without them, a “checkerboard effect” could take root, where a historic district leapfrogs around homes that have opted out of being historically designated.

“You could have random districts,” he said. “We’re relying on property owners to keep the historic integrity of the home intact, but there’s nothing to require it.”

Some homeowners believe the state-level ordinance would be too strict, requiring residents to get approval from the city for even minor repairs to their historic homes.

Church Street resident and retired businessman Steve Imler, 55, said he wants a compromise ordinance that would preserve homes, but protect property rights.

Imler called his version a “renovation ordinance” that would allow a homeowner to make repairs to their home without interference, but require approval on major renovations and additions.

“In most places where these things are successful, the community supports them,” he said. “I want to preserve the community’s involvement in how this turns out.”

Imler said the right balance could be found between property rights and historic preservation.

He said he would attend the meeting to present the renovation ordinance.

“There’s more than just one blanket ordinance,” he said.

Dunaway said the City Council delayed approving the state-level ordinance in April to do more research.

He said the council has not decided to advertise an ordinance change yet, which must happen before the council can vote on the issue.

Pearlberg already has scheduled a second town hall meeting for Aug. 30.