Lee, Birrell Talk About Budget Woes

1. Today’s a good day to find something to do inside, such as reading your favorite online source for news and information (hint, hint). It will be sunny and hot with poor air quality today, the National Weather Service says. The high will be 92, and the overnight low will be about 67.

2. Today is another furlough day for Cobb County, and with the Fourth of July on Monday, that means you’ll have to wait until Tuesday to conduct any county business, such as paying your car tax. The furlough comes a day after Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee used the phrase “millage increase” in a speech to the Marietta Kiwanis Club, the Marietta Daily Journal reports.

3. Northeast Cobb’s county commissioner, JoAnn Birrell, held a lengthy Thursday night at the to discuss the effects of budget problems on public safety, among other issues. We’ll have extensive coverage from that meeting today, including video.

4. The first day of July brings numerous state laws into effect, the most prominent being , albeit with two provisions on hold because of a court order. New rules for in vehicles also are in force now.

5. The employment picture for many Northeast Cobb residents got a bit cloudier Thursday when Lockheed Martin announced it will cut 1,500 jobs by September from its aeronautics unit, which includes all of the company’s 8,400 workers in Marietta. It looks as if most if not all of the lost jobs will be in the white-collar ranks. Marietta Patch has the story.