Should Georgia Ax the Income Tax?

Several state senators are pushing a resolution that seeks the elimination of Georgia’s income tax. Tell us how you would vote on such a proposal.

The Georgia income tax could one day become a thing of the past. Several state senators have signed on to sponsor Senate Resolution 8, a proposal that would create a constitutional amendment to phase out the state’s income tax. If the resolution is approved by the General Assembly and signed by the governor, Georgia voters would see this question on a future ballot: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to limit the authority of the General Assembly to impose an income tax and to phase out existing income taxes?” A copy of the resolution is attached to this article in PDF form. If voters approve the amendment, the state would phase out the income tax completely by the year 2027. The process would be gradual, reducing the tax …

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Funeral Set for Man Killed In Bicycle Accident

Timothy Austin, who died while riding on Bells Ferry Road this week, will be laid to rest on Saturday in Marietta.

Funeral services are set for the Woodstock man who was struck and killed on Wednesday after his bicycle entered the Bells Ferry Road. The funeral for Timothy Austin, 42, will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday in the chapel of the Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta. Interment will follow at the Georgia Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.  Austin was cycling southbound on the sidewalk along Bells Ferry Road near the Cherokee-Cobb County border around 4 p.m. on Wednesday when, for unknown reasons, he lost control of the bicycle and entered oncoming traffic, said Cobb County Police Department Spokesman Mike Bowman.  A 2006 silver Nissan Xterra, driven by Lilburn resident …

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Saturday Funeral for Marietta Teen

A man faces charges of murder and attempted murder following the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis in Jacksonville, Fla.

Funeral arrangements have been set for a Marietta teen who was shot and killed Friday in Jacksonville, Fla. after an argument over loud music. According to the Orlando Sentinel, 17-year-old Jordan Russell Davis and several other teenagers were sitting in an SUV in a convenience store parking lot when 45-year-old Michael David Dunn and his girlfriend pulled into the store’s lot. Dunn reportedly asked the teens to turn down the music playing in their vehicle. After he and Davis exchanged words, Dunn shot Davis eight or nine times, striking Davis twice, authorities said. The newspaper reported that Dunn was arrested at his home Saturday on charges of murder and attempted murder. According to WSB TV, Davis split time at his mother’s home in …

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Memorial Service for Former Cobb Police Chief Saturday

Robert Hightower, who died at 78 on Tuesday, will be remembered at Roswell Street Baptist Church.

Just two months after the Cobb County Police renamed its headquarters after Robert E. Hightower, he died after suffering a fall. Hightower completed a 26-year tenure with Cobb, serving as Chief of Police as well as the first Director of Public Safety, overseeing police, fire, 911 and corrections. Hightower led the police department through critical periods of growth, creating many specialized units within the department that are still in service today. He also created the Department of Public Safety Training Academy, offering initial and advanced training. After his retirement from Cobb, Hightower continued to serve residents as director of the Georgia State Patrol and as Georgia's first Director of Homeland Security. Hightower begn his …

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Late 'Gone With the Wind' Actress Maintained Georgia Connections

Ann Rutherford, who died last week at 94, had come to many Cobb events held for the book and movie, where she would stay "until the very last person had left the building."

Fallen Cobb Soldier Returns Home

First Lt. Jonathan Walsh's body will pass through much of Northeast Cobb in a motorcade this morning.

The body of a Kennesaw soldier killed in Afghanistan by a blast from an improvised explosive device will be escorted through Northeast Cobb this morning after arriving at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta. First Lt. Jonathan Walsh, a 28-year-old paratrooper, died April 22 while serving in Ghazni province. The motorcade is expected to depart Dobbins between 10 and 11 a.m., the Cobb County government says. The procession will travel north along Atlanta Road, turn right onto South Cobb Drive, head north on Cobb Parkway, turn right onto Blue Springs Road in Acworth, then right onto Old Highway 41, left onto McCollum Parkway in Kennesaw, left on Frey Road and right onto Shiloh Road. Shiloh Road, which becomes Shallowford Road and then …

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Michael Jacobs

2:47 pm on Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Thanks for doing that, Jason. And if you or anyone else got photos you'd like to share with the community, please feel free to add them to this article.   more ›

Emmanuel Tabernacle Pastor Dies

The Rev. Dwight Graves also led the Cobb County chapter of the SCLC.

The Rev. Dwight Graves, the pastor of Northeast Cobb's Emmanuel Tabernacle Christian Church and chairman of Cobb County's SCLC chapter, died Tuesday morning at age 64 at WellStar Kennestone Hospital. Graves founded Emmanuel Tabernacle in 1997 and led it through several moves that eventually brought the congregation to Northeast Cobb off Sandy Plains Road, according to the church's website. A native of West Virginia, Graves served 32 years in the Air Force, retiring as a senior master sergeant in 1990, South Cobb Patch reported in a full obituary for the religious and civil rights leader. In addition to his chairmanship of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Cobb, Graves' community activism in the past year included support for …

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PatchCast: Fire Guts Apartments; Walmart Stabbing; Jorelys Farewell

Here's a roundup of top headlines from Patches around Northeast Cobb for Dec. 12.

For more on these stories, click on the following links:

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Obituary: Joel Thomas Conway, Jr. Dies at 34

Lassiter High School alum Joel Thomas Conway, Jr., 34 died on Oct. 31 due to injuries sustained in a car accident.

Joel Thomas Conway, Jr., 34, of Hoschton was driving south on Georgia Highway 124 just before 7 a.m. Oct. 31 when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer, according to the Athen Banner-Herald. He lost control of his 2009 Mazda SUV and ran off the road. The SUV struck two trees, and the impact from the second tree caused the car to flip over. When Jackson County firefighters and EMTs responded to the scene, Conway already had died from his injuries. He was born in Riverdale, Ga. on Sept. 7, 1977 to Joel Thomas, Sr. and Mary Conway. He joined an older sister, Jill. After graduation from Lassiter High School in Northeast Cobb in 1996, Conway enrolled at Cumberland University where he also played football. Sidelined due to an injury, he continued …

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Obituary: Lassiter Sophomore Josh Wittes Dies

The 16-year-old played on the varsity lacrosse team, which is dedicating its season to him.

Lassiter High School sophomore Josh Wittes, 16, died early Thursday morning, surrounded by family and friends, after several days in a coma. A native of Marietta, the Northeast Cobb resident is survived by his parents, Rob and Kelly Wittes; brother Zack; his twin, David; and his grandparents, Grace Garrison and Hermine and Jerry Wittes. Other survivors include aunts, uncles and cousins Brian Wittes, Margaret Pawlik, Kevin Pawlik, Yvonne and Alan Jaslove, Cara and Matthew Jaslove, Dustin and Ximena Valdez, and Ryker Valdez, as well as family friends and godparents Margaret and Josh Berry, Claude Nafziger, and Lordes and Fred Muller. Josh attended Mountain View Elementary School and Simpson Middle School before Lassiter. He played many …

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