Two students were injured during lunch Tuesday in a fight at Daniel Middle School, the Cobb County School District said. Emergency services responded to the scene and other students and staff were safe. The nature of the students’ injuries was not disclosed, with district spokesperson Erich Rauch said he could not provide further details, but reports have come out that a knife was involved. Outside of Daniel Tuesday afternoon, one parent told reporters he came to pick up his daughter early from school because she had witnessed the altercation. She kept telling him that she didn’t want to be there any more and begged for someone to pick her up. David Chastain, the Cobb school board member who represents Daniel, declined to go into specifics about the incident when reached by the MDJ. Cobb school board member Randy Scamihorn said the altercation at Daniel is not representative of the broader issues in CCSD. Scamihorn said the school district’s police force is “thoroughly competent and outstanding,” and praised the district’s teachers and counselors for their work to address students’ problems and needs.
One student was sickened after another released pepper spray on a Park Street Elementary school bus Tuesday, Marietta City Schools said.
The district said first responders “were onsite immediately” to evaluate students and the bus driver, with no major injuries reported. The district did not provide additional information about the incident. The incident caused the bus to be delayed. Superintendent Grant Rivera said the staff responded quickly to this incident and that the district prioritizes safety of students and staff.
In a wide-ranging talk to the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff ticked through a laundry list of funding allocations and other legislative wins from his first two years in office.
Of particular interest to Cobb were Senator Ossoff’s comments about Lockheed Martin’s Marietta plant, the neighboring Dobbins Air Reserve Base, and the Chattahoochee River.
Senator Ossoff was introduced by Lockheed executive Rod McLean, who leads the Marietta plant, which employs nearly 5,000 people. The plant’s flagship program is manufacturing the C-130J Super Hercules, which McLean called “the best tactical airlifter across the globe, ever made.”
Senator Ossoff noted that in the 2023 omnibus spending bill, President Joe Biden did not request funding for any new C-130J planes. Senator Ossoff stated that the Georgia delegation and many Senators across the country felt they could not fail to provide guard and reserve units with the tactical airlift capabilities that they need, and that 16 Marietta-made C-130Js to the defense authorization appropriations measures this year. One of the biggest prizes Lockheed hopes to win is a contract to supply the U.S. Air Force with new aerial fuel tankers. Lockheed’s LMXT plane, if given the nod, would be partially constructed at the firm’s Marietta plant and could add upwards of 1,000 jobs to the 5,000 already employed there. The senator also touted $40 million in new funding he secured to protect the Chattahoochee River, which provides 70% of metro Atlanta’s drinking water.
The exodus of Cobb County receivers from the University of Georgia continued on Monday when former Walton High School standout Dominick Blaylock entered his name into the transfer portal.
Blaylock will leave as a graduate transfer after he earns his expected degree in housing management and policy later this spring. The redshirt junior will have two years of eligibility remaining.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound pass catcher finished the 2022-23 season with 15 receptions for 227 yards and a touchdown. He played in all 15 games and will leave the program with two national championship rings. This past season, was the first in which he remained healthy after coming all the way back from two ACL injuries that cost him the entire 2020 season and much of 2021.
With Blaylock’s departure, he becomes the third receiver from the county to enter the portal joining former Marietta standout tight end Arik Gilbert, who made the decision before the College Football Playoffs, and former Kennesaw Mountain star tight end Ryland Goede, who made his announcement last week. Goede and Blaylock are close friends, who came to UGA beginning with the 2019 season. As a true freshman, Blaylock was making his mark as a punt returner and a receiver. He had 18 receptions for 310 yards and five touchdowns, but suffered his first torn ACL in the SEC Championship game against LSU. The following fall he reinjured the same ACL and was not able to return to the field until the middle of the 2021 season.
This season, he found himself behind receivers Ladd McConkey and Kearis Jackson and others, along with the offense geared to tight ends Brock Bowers and Darnell Washington, it was hard to for Blaylock to find opportunities.
He had a season-high three catches against Missouri, he caught his touchdown pass against Vanderbilt, and his final catch of his Bulldogs’ career was a 20-yarder against Ohio State on third-and-10 against Ohio State in the Peach Bowl.
Voting for the Cobb Life Magazine Best of Cobb 2023 contest ends in five days!
After opening the polls on December 5 to the top reader-nominated businesses, community members and persons, the Best of Cobb contest has received over 323,000 votes as of Monday morning. Polls will close at midnight Friday, Jan. 20.
More than 2,800 nominations made it to voting this year, so the competition is strong. Whether you’re voting for your favorite breakfast spot, realtor, hair salon or mechanic, every vote counts! Use this as an opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to your favorite local businesses. The winners will be announced in the March issue of Cobb Life Magazine, followed by an annual celebration to honor our winners March 23.
Voting for Best of Cobb is open until January 20 at 11:59 p.m.
Visit thebestofcobb.com to begin voting for your favorites!
The Cobb Community Foundation, in conjunction with United Way of Greater Atlanta Northwest, announced that 5 Network for Good Jumpstart capacity-building grants of $5,000 each have been awarded to H.O.P.E. Family Resource Center, The Sobriety Resource, Connecting Generations, Self-Discovery Pain, Positioning and Purpose, and Circles Cobb for 2023.
The Jumpstart grant program partnership, now in its second year, will provide a robust, 12-month training schedule to build fundraising capacity, diversify revenue, and grow and sustain programs for a new group of nonprofits.
These five agencies were selected as a result of a carefully planned approach to meet human service needs in Cobb as identified by a study commissioned in 2019 by CCF. The data collected was used to create a heat map showing where assistance should be targeted. The study emphasized the need for services to be available not just to the area of need but in the area of need. Nonprofits operating in the locality bordered to the north by State Route 360 to the east by South Cobb Drive and to the south by I-285 were then invited to learn more about the demanding Jumpstart program activities.
To ensure readiness, Leadership at H.O.P.E. Family Resource Center, The Sobriety Resource, Connecting Generations and Self-Discovery Pain, Positioning and Purpose first participated in a six-month training program offered in 2022 through the Georgia Center for Nonprofits, paving the way for their participation in the Jumpstart program in 2023. The newly established Circles Cobb was identified as the fifth and final organization to join the cohort.
The $25,000 needed to fund these grants was underwritten by Corporate Community Champion Liberty Furniture. In 2023, CCF’s investment in even more organizations like these five will be further leveraged through its partnership with United Way.
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