U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, announced her nominations of more than two dozen high school students in Georgia’s Sixth District to U.S. military service academies, including eight Cobb students.
The students who received nominations from McBath’s office must now be selected by the respective academies for a formal appointment to attend in the fall of 2023.
Two Cobb students — Lassiter’s Amit Balaji and Walton’s Jacob Siler, both from Marietta — received nominations to the U.S. Military Academy.
Four students from Marietta — Jaclyn Johns, who attends Blessed Trinity; Walton’s Hannah Ograbisz; Sprayberry’s Noah Senzer; and Wheeler’s Andrew Sinclair — received nominations to the U.S. Naval Academy.
Walton’s Grace Hoyt, of Marietta, received a nomination to the U.S. Air Force Academy, while Lassiter’s Luke O’Malley received nominations to both the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
The second week of Christmas break brings two more holiday basketball tournaments to the county.
Fans will be able to see the 25th annual Campbell Holiday Classic, which will include two girls divisions and one boys bracket, and the Hounds Holiday Classic at Pope High School, which will feature a boys and a girls bracket.
Both tournaments will begin Wednesday and run through Friday and each features some quality opponents and local programs.
At Campbell, the No. 9 Spartans welcome in the 2021 Class AAAAAAA state champion Marietta and the runner-up that season, Woodstock. The event also has last year’s Class AAAAAAA runner-up Harrison, Westlake, a three-time champion from 2018-20, and Rockdale County, currently ranked No. 3 in Class AAAAAA.
Other local teams in the girls tournaments include Sprayberry and Osborne. The girls tournaments will be split between the Gwyn-McClure Gym at Campbell High School and the SEC Divison at Campbell Middle School.
The boys tournament features local teams in Allatoona, which just had a successful run in the Carrollton Christmas tournament, Sprayberry and Campbell. In addition, it will bring in COHEA Academy from Florida. All boys games will be played in the Gwyn-McClure Gym. The boys side of the Hounds Holiday Classic features a rematch of Kennesaw Mountain and Pope in Round 1 on Wednesday. The two just played for the championship of the Alphretta-Pope Holiday Tournament last week, with the Greyhounds earning a 65-58 victory behind Zach Bleshoy’s 36 points. Other local teams in the event include Cherokee, Mount Paran Christian, Walton and Woodstock. The girls side has perennial state championship contender Cherokee, No. 10 Hillgrove, and Pope, which comes into the tournament 10-3.
The games will be split between the new gym and the old gym at Pope. First day matchups include North Gwinnett and Walton on the girls side, along with Mount Paran taking on Walton on the boys side.
Marietta’s annual menorah-lighting ceremony, which usually features music, food, and a giant menorah on Marietta Square, was cancelled this year due to unusually frigid weather.
So instead, on Friday, Dec. 23, a smaller, quieter ceremony was held in the council chambers at city hall using the family menorah of Marietta City Council Member Joseph Goldstein. Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin and Goldstein both attended, along with Rabbi Joseph Prass of Marietta’s Congregation Ner Tamid and several members of his congregation.
Goldstein said he lit the shammash, the menorah’s central candle which is used to light the others. Then Mayor Tumlin, wearing a yarmulke, lit six candles on the Menorah for the sixth night of the Jewish Festival of Lights. Rabbi Prass said a blessing over the lights as they were being lit, Goldstein said.
The eight days of Hanukkah celebrate the miracle of a single oil lamp burning for eight nights in Jerusalem’s Second Temple after the Jewish Maccabees’ victory over the Syrian-Greeks more than 2,000 years ago. According to Chicago Jewish News, around 6 million Americans celebrate Hanukkah every year.
A fire broke out at a south Cobb apartment complex on Sunday afternoon, damaging more than a dozen units and displacing multiple residents.
According to Cobb Fire spokesperson Lt. Troy Lange, the fire occurred at 300 Riverside Parkway, the address of the 300 Riverside apartment complex, around 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Lange said firefighters arrived on the scene “with heavy fire showing from the top floor” of the complex’s building 7, and a preliminary report indicated 16 units were damaged by fire or water.
Lange said no injuries were reported from the fire, which is under investigation, and that the Red Cross was called in to assist displaced residents.
Monica DeLancy, a renters’ rights activist in the area, said she spoke to some of the families displaced by the fire and believes about 10 households were affected. Some of the families are receiving assistance from MUST Ministries, DeLancy said, and she is helping those affected navigate resources available to them.
Cold, windy weather is forecast to continue early this week before a warming trend begins, according to the National Weather Service. The NWS station in Peachtree City extended the wind chill advisory through the afternoon on Christmas Day, and released a hazardous weather outlook which predicts more chilly weather. According to Cobb County, the MUST Hope House on Bells Ferry Road is open as a warming shelter to help people escape the freezing weather.
Cobb County Water System cautioned via its Facebook page this week to prevent burst pipes during the freezing weather by dripping indoor faucets and heating homes to at least 55 degrees.
The Georgia Power' outage map registered six power outages in Cobb County on Saturday afternoon, with 42 customers affected.
Much of the continental United States has felt the chill of Winter Storm Elliot as it has moved across the county causing dangerous conditions. On Thursday, Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency, allowing state parks to open warming shelters to help deal with the effects of wind chill and potential power outages.
As the week progress, temperatures will climb with highs reaching the 60s by New Year's weekend.
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