Three years ago, BJ Ojulari walked toward Mercedes-Benz Stadium with an LSU hat and his mother instructed him not to wear it.
They were there to support his older brother, Azeez, a rising star at outside linebacker for Georgia. On top of that, she reminded him, the school provided their tickets.
BJ begrudgingly stuffed the hat in his pocket until they reached their seats. He put it back on once they got there, making him the only person in a section filled with red and black who rooted for the Tigers at the 2019 Southeastern Conference championship game. His mother told him to go to the LSU side, to which BJ responded that he was LSU to the core. BJ had committed to LSU two months earlier to make a name for himself in college football. He wanted Azeez to play well that day, but he cheered for the team he would one day lead back to the conference title game.
With the situation flipped, BJ expects Azeez to approach the SEC championship Saturday afternoon in Atlanta the same way he once did. He is the leader of LSU's defense, but his brother has other allegiances. They've bantered ever since No. 14 LSU and No. 1 Georgia clinched their spots about three weeks ago. BJ knows Azeez wants him to succeed on Saturday, but he will be rooting for the Dawgs. An Atlanta-area native with his brother already there, BJ was pursued by the Bulldogs. He called them "a big factor" in his recruitment. Azeez tried to sway him as well, and BJ thought about following him. But he felt embraced by then-LSU coach Ed Orgeron and his staff, which offered a younger brother the chance to establish himself.
In three years, BJ has done that. He blossomed into a star while LSU struggled to an 11-12 record the last two seasons. Then new defensive coordinator Matt House moved him from defensive end to standup outside linebacker, which helped him take another step.BJ is showing talent and versatility that may make him an early round pick in the NFL Draft.
In the wake of the 2020 census, the Marietta City Council is preparing to redistrict the city’s seven wards, which serve as districts for both the council and Marietta Board of Education.
After the census is taken every ten years, the city must redraw its ward lines, if the wards’ populations are not roughly equal in size, as required by federal law.
Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin told the MDJ Monday he expects each ward to have about 8,600 people.
Marietta has about 61,500 people, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
The council’s Judicial Legislative Committee began the process Tuesday by appointing its three members — Chairman Andy Morris, Cheryl Richardson and Andre Sims — to the city’s ad hoc Redistricting Ward Map Study Committee.
The three council members on the committee will have voting privileges. A Marietta school board member will also sit on the committee but have no vote on the maps. The Marietta school board follows the same ward maps as the council.
Tumlin said the committee will hold public meetings to determine new ward maps, which will be drawn with the help of computer software. That software, he said, takes the census results into account to create new boundaries.
At Tuesday’s meeting, city Attorney Doug Haynie said the city is no longer required to gain pre-clearance, or approval from the U.S. Department of Justice, for its redistricted ward maps.
Before the landmark 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision Shelby County v. Holder, all redistricting plans in the state required pre-clearance from the Justice Department to ensure maps were fairly drawn and did not discriminate against any group of voters.
Santa Claus visited the Jonquil City on Wednesday night, where he lit downtown Smyrna’s giant Christmas tree with a shower of magic dust.
Residents flooded downtown Smyrna around City Hall for the city’s annual “Coming Home for the Holidays” event. Richard Garland, the city’s parks and recreation director, estimated more than 5,000 people attended.
“It was wall to wall from the colonnade at the entrance all the way down to city hall,” Garland said.
Choirs from Osborne and Campbell high schools and nine elementary schools sang carols throughout the evening. Despite warmer weather, people walked around the festive downtown sipping free hot chocolate.
When the time came, Santa was led into the festival by the Campbell High marching band, then lifted into the air in the basket of a fire truck as the crowd chanted his name.
A reported delay in absentee ballot mailings for the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff election was due to office closures for the Thanksgiving holiday, Cobb’s elections chief said Wednesday.
Elections Director Janine Eveler said more than 3,400 ballots were affected by the delay, but have since been mailed to voters.
“Everything is out the door,” she said.
Those ballots were originally marked as issued on November 23, the day before Thanksgiving. Multiple state lawmakers told the MDJ they’d heard from constituents that their ballots — marked as issued in the state’s ballot tracker — had still not been received as of earlier this week. In the case of the 3,442 ballots marked issued on the 23rd, Eveler said they were mailed out Monday because her office was closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day after. The reported delays sparked concerns the ballots were not mailed at all, as happened with more than 1,000 ballots in the weeks prior to the Nov. 6 general election. In that instance, Eveler initially said there was no evidence a significant number of ballots were missing, but days later announced the ballots had never been mailed. State Rep. David Wilkerson, D-Powder Springs, said he’d been tracking the ballot requests in the secretary of state’s system, but it’s too early to tell if there have been any errors. When the issue was made public before the general election, it was weeks after the ballots had supposedly been mailed. All absentee ballots must be returned by the time the polls close at 7 p.m. on Dec. 6. Voters can check the status of their absentee ballot at mvp.sos.ga.gov.
The McEachern girls outscored Kell 12-1 in overtime to win 66-55 in a battle of top-10 teams at Lovinggood Arena on Tuesday.
The Indians ranked Number 8 in Class 7A, got 18 points from Jada Bates and 17 from Kalise Hill to offset 35 points from the Longhorns’ Crystal Henderson. Bates connected on back-to-back 3-pointers — the second coming with 3:49 to play in the third quarter — to give McEachern its biggest lead in regulation at 37-30. Henderson then scored 18 of Kell’s final 21 points in regulation, including making two 3-pointers and going 11-of-12 from the free-throw line. Two free throws from Haleigh Cephus and one from Williams gave the Indians a 57-54 lead, and moments later, Taylor Collins hit a 3 to push the lead to six. With just seconds left in the game and the shot clock running down, Collins made her second 3 in overtime — a 30-footer — to cap the scoring.
Collins and Williams each finished the night with nine points.
Cobb EMC's Holiday Light Tour will feature light displays at the Cobb EMC Solar Flower Garden along with nine other homes serviced by the electric cooperative.
“Many of our members told us how much they enjoyed the Holiday Light Tour last year and we can’t wait to brighten the holiday season once again,” said Kris Delaney, Vice President of Marketing at Cobb EMC. “It’s a chance for families and the community to experience some amazing light displays from Cobb EMC members that are participating for a great cause.”
Cobb EMC’s Holiday Light Tour kicks off with the grand lighting drive-through event on Dec. 1 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Solar Flower Garden at Cobb EMC off Highway 41 in
Marietta. At the event, participants can walk through the Solar Flower Garden light display, meet Santa and Mrs. Claus, pick up a holiday light tour map and have cookies with Wattson.
The nine homes participating in the light tour are:
After viewing all nine homes on the tour, participants are encouraged to vote for their favorite display on Cobb EMC’s Facebook page. Voting will be open December 1-25 and the top three homes will receive $500 for a charity or non-profit of their choice.
#CobbCounty #Georgia #LocalNews
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