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Filthy Porn Site Proudly CCT Drivers Back On The Road They vowed to continue their sick out but, instead, dozens of Cobb Community Transit drivers returned to work on Saturday, ending what was a one-day stoppage on Friday. On one of the coldest days of this winter, many Community Community Transit drivers chose Friday to enact a sick out, leaving thousands of would-be passengers without transportation. As we reported on Monday, drivers were preparing to call a sick out to protest, they say, long work hours without adequate pay. The drivers' union contract forbids them from declaring an actual strike. CCT is operated by the First Transit, a Cincinnati-based company, which is under contract with Cobb County. Apparently, drivers have worked out some kind of accommodation with First Transit. [Cobb Online first reported this story Friday 1/14/00] 'Pamper Me' Spa's Closure Leaves Worthless Certificates People holding gift certificates, many given as nice holiday presents, for the 'Pamper Me!' day spa have discovered that they're not worth the paper they're printed on. The spa, located on Whitlock Avenue, went out of business right before Christmas, neighbors say. Would be customers are furious. Most say the certificates, valued between $75-$150, were allegedly sold up to the day of closing. The business was open less than a year. We tried to call, but the phone has been disconnected. 1/15/00 BB&T Completes Purchase Of Premier Bank BB&T Corporation has completed its acquisition of Atlanta-based Premier Bancshares, which has numerous branches here in Cobb. The bank is based in North Carolina. Link to the story 1/15/00 Lockheed Denies EEOC Findings An investigation by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has reportedly found that some white managers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems discriminated against black employes. The company disputed the findings which are one step in a long process of bringing discrimination claims under federal civil rights laws. Link to the story Filthy Porn Site Proudly Proclaims It's From Marietta One of the most filthy pornsites on the Internet we have encountered is based right here in Marietta, and the webmaster has made an obvious effort to let browsers know that. The site, called The Porn Depot, pops up on "Marietta" search engines and 'proudly' proclaims where it's based. An ownership check found that the site is owned by MBC Productions, Inc., with Bill Murray as the contact. The mailing address is a post office box on Sandy Plains Road. Top Maker Says 'No' To Gun Shows  The nation's largest gun manufacturer has begun instructing distributors not to sell its firearms at gun shows, apparently the first policy of its kind, The Denver Post reported Saturday.
In contracts with distributors this year, Sturm, Ruger & Co. states that its shotguns, rifles and handguns be supplied only ``to federally licensed firearms dealers selling exclusively from their regular place of business,'' the newspaper said. Link to the story Woman Seeks Hunter's To-Be-Vacated Seat  The row of good old boys who sit on the Cobb Board of Commissioners may disappear if Judy Williams is successful in winning the West Cobb Commissioner's spot that is expected to be vacated in the next few weeks by Louie Hunter. Williams, administrative aide to East Cobb Commissioner Sam Olens, says she'll run if Hunter makes good on his plans to quit. He's not going away, though. Hunter says he'll challenge Bill Byrne for the Cobb chairmanship.
Williams would be the fourth women to sit on the commission, if elected. Others were Hariett Smith, Thea Powell, and Barbara Williams.Feds Say Lockheed Discriminated Against Blacks A federal investigation has concluded that some white managers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems discriminated against black employes by overlooking them for promotion, training and overtime. Link to the story 01/14/00 Home Depot Again Sued For Discrimination Twelve black employees are suing the Cobb-based Home Depot Inc. for $120 million, alleging racial discrimination at a store in suburban Detroit. The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court alleges a five-year pattern of denying raises, training and promotions to black employees at one of the home-improvement chain's stores in Southfield. Link to the story 01/14/00 Byrne Proposes Plan For Jail, New Parks Cobb County could get land for five new parks and a new addition to the jail under a $17 million spending proposal County Commission Chairman Bill Byrne unveiled Thursday. Byrne wants to spend $12 million over two years to buy 200 acres. Link to the story 01/14/00 South Carolinian Tapped To Run Marietta Marietta City Council is expected to approve later in the month Bill Bruton, currently the city manager of tiny Hartsville, SC, as the person it wants to run the city on a day-by-day basis. Bruton will replace former Marietta City Manager Bill Buckner, who has retired. 01/13/00 Bad Break For Hunter: He Has Pneumonia  When a person announces his candidacy for a major office, the last thing they want to happen in the first days afterward is to become incapacitated. Those first days are critical in lining up political support while the enthusiasm is fresh. But that's not going to happen for Louie Hunter, who wants to be the next Cobb Chairman. Hunter has pneumonia. In fact, his illness is so bad, he'll miss a government retreat this week up in the mountains.
01/13/00Cobb Has New, Easier Auto Tag Form  The new year will bring with it a new look for Cobb's vehicle tag renewal forms.
Cobb Tax Commissioner Jim McDuffie said the new forms are simple and easy to understand. "We want to make the renewal process as easy as possible," said McDuffie. "We are willing to change anything within reason to speed the process for the taxpayers."
Link to the story 1/12/00 New System Will Speed-Up Cobb's Election Returns Cobb Elections and Voter Registration officials will use a new vote scanning system for the first time during the March 7 Presidential Preference Primary. Elections Director Sharon Wingfield said the $1.2 million system is expected to speed up election returns. Link to the story 1/12/00 Cleland Celebrates New Lockheed Contracts With A Visit Senator Max Cleland (D) celebrated the recent signing of contracts with Lockheed for the C130J by paying the Marietta plant a visit on Tuesday. Cleland has been credited with leading the effort to bring more business to Lockheed, which had been considering closing the Marietta plant. 1/12 Pigeons Get The Spike On Marietta Square  Venice has pigeons. So does London, Paris and every city in the world. But Marietta doesn't want them on its square. The city has been working for months to get rid of them, from telling building owners to keep their facades and awnings pigeon-free to allowing "catchers" to capture the little pests, even going as far as giving a fine to anyone caught feeding them.
Now a new development: The city's Marietta Power has started installing sharp spikes on its poles around the square to keep the pigeons off. Beth Omer, a shopowner on Marietta Square, thinks the effort is misdirected. "Leave the pigeons alone. Why don't they put the spikes where the vagrants sit?," she suggested. "That would be more advantageous to the square than a bunch of birds." 1/12 Residents Surprised That Hunter Announced In talking to people in Cobb yesterday, we discovered one thing: People weren't surprised that Louie Hunter announced he was in the race for the Cobb Chairmanship. But, they were surprised he entered over the weekend.
Unless residents read the 20,000-circulation Marietta Daily Journal, they would not have known. The paper has long lost its dominance in Cobb, a county of nearly 600,000 people, to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Nevertheless, it was a nice scoop for the little paper that missed many of the big stories from our community over the past year.
Council Will Make New Committee Assignments Marietta City Council meets Wednesday. Members will vote on each others' committee assignments for the year. Here's how it looks:  Philip M. Goldstein as the BLW representative Johnny Sinclair, as Chairperson, and Betty Hunter and Paul
Sabiston to the Economic Development Committee Pete Waldrep, as Chairperson, and Frank Ayers and Johnny
Sinclair to the Finance/Investment Committee Philip M. Goldstein, Chairperson, and Pete Waldrep and Paul
Sabiston to the Judicial/Legislative Committee Frank T. Ayers, as Chairperson, and Betty Hunter and James C.
Dodd, Jr., to the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Committee Betty L. Hunter, as Chairperson, and Philip M. Goldstein and
James C. Dodd, Jr., to the Personnel/Insurance Committee James C. Dodd, Jr., Chairperson, and Pete Waldrep and Johnny
Sinclair to the Public Safety Committee Paul Sabiston, as Chairperson, and Philip M. Goldstein and
Frank T. Ayers to the Public Works Committee 1/10/00Marietta Fibernet Taking Over Old Fire Station City Council on Wednesday is expected to fill the vacant Fire Station on Roswell Street with personnel from Marietta Fibernet. The rent - $750 a month for 18 months. Council meets at 7 p.m. at City Hall. 1/10/00 Orders Coming In For C130J Planes From Lockheed Lockheed Martin said on Monday that the Italian government has contracted for two additional C-130J transport aircraft, bringing the total number of the order to 20. No price was disclosed. The contract contains options for additional aircraft, which are anticipated to be exercised in early 2000, Lockheed said. The order comes on the heels of an order for 24 cargo jets from the Pentagon. 1/10/00 Cobb Manager May Get 'Well-Deserved' Raise Cobb County Manager David Hankerson expects a 15 percent raise Tuesday as commissioners consider removing a salary cap on his job. Commissioners want to give Hankerson a 3 percent cost-of-living increase, a 4 percent raise and a $10,000 bump in pay, bringing his salary to $139,576. He also receives $8,000 per year toward retirement and $500 per month for a car allowance. "He deserves every penny of it," Commissioner Sam Olens said. "He's the best manager in metro Atlanta." Link to the story Betty Hunter Commended For Attempts To Bridge Diversity While other parts of Marietta have seemingly shut out minorities when it comes to their special activities like home tours, progressive dinners and the like, one Councilmember was commended on Thursday by Mayor Ansley Meaders for trying to bridge the gap in her Ward. Betty Hunter has been working for months to bring Hispanics, blacks and longtime residents together. She's gone as far as to create an organization called the "Loop Group" to keep all -- not just the longtime residents -- informed on what's going on. Another Library Open On Sundays Beginning Jan. 9 Cobb residents can enjoy Sunday hours at Kemp Memorial Library on Due West Road and South Cobb Library on Mableton Parkway. The branches join Mountain View and Central libraries by being open 1 to 5 p.m. Link to the story Warrants Issued For Animal Abuse In Mableton Can you believe that this stuff still happens, right here in Cobb? Wednesday, Cobb Animal Control discovered about 22 badly-injured dogs, obviously starving, on property in Mableton. They think the dogs were used for pit fighting. A vet who helped rescue the animals said the dogs were suffering from uncountable wounds. Yesterday, police issued arrest warrants for three men: Kennedy Ogletree, Harry Butler, and Heijai Watkins. They have yet to be found, and are apparently on the run. Cobb Businessmen Sentenced For Fraud Glenn Lagrone said his desire to become a member of the elite "inner circle" overwhelmed his sense of right and wrong. Tom Stacy said his crimes left his family "homeless and destitute." Before sentencing the two Marietta businessmen to prison, a federal judge noted that the defendants had worked in homeless shelters, taught Bible study and coached Little League. "I look at these two guys," U.S. District Judge Richard Story said, "and think they could be my best friends." Access Atlanta Cobb May Limit Land Clearing To 10 Acres At Time Developers could no longer strip vast tracts of Cobb County land under a proposal that would limit them to 10 acres at a time. The measure sponsored by county commissioners Sam Olens and Woody Thompson will be discussed by the full county commission next week. Access Atlanta More Newsfile items here 
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