3 found guilty, 1 acquitted in Mableton man's death

Thursday, September 4th, 2014, 2:37am

COBB COUNTY, Ga. – Three men were found guilty and another man was acquitted in the June 2013 death of a man in Mableton.

Johnathan Donald Anthony, 19; Antonio Shantwan Pass, 20; and Jekari Oshay Strozier, 21, were found guilty of murder and other charges on Wednesday. Kemonta Deandre Bonds, 22, was acquitted.

Officials say the defendants severely beat 36-year-old Joshua Chellew outside a convenience store on Mableton Parkway in the early morning hours of June 30, 2013.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2014, 11:47am

Traffic improvements coming to south Cobb

MABLETON, Ga. -- Drivers in southern Cobb County will soon experience some much-needed relief on Floyd Road.

The Cobb Department of Transportation will hold ribbon cutting and ground breaking ceremonies for some traffic improvements on Wednesday, Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. Both events will be at the Mable House.

The ribbon cutting is for the Floyd Road Widening Thoroughfare Improvements project, a $5.5 million initiative that widened and added sidewalks to the major Mableton street between Clay and Hicks roads.

The department's next scheduled project is Floyd Road Safety and Operational Improvements, which will span from Clay Road to Veterans Memorial Highway.

Mable House is located at 5239 Floyd Road. The public is invited to attend the events.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Monday, September 1st, 2014, 5:30am

Free digital textbooks available to Ga. students

(WXIA) -- The Georgia Department of Education has made free interactive digital textbooks available on its website.

Students, parents and educators are welcome to use the books, which feature games, discussion questions, quizzes and other study elements.

They are available for middle and high school courses in such subjects as language arts, math, science, social studies, electives and several world languages -- Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin and Spanish.

State School Superintendent Dr. John Barge said students who have used the digital textbook have had much classroom success with them.

Visit gavirtuallearning.org to access the textbook materials.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Thursday, August 28th, 2014, 3:00pm

Labor Day treat: No roadwork this weekend

(WXIA) -- The Georgia Department of Transportation has a surprise for drivers who plan to visit Atlanta over the Labor Day weekend.

All construction-related road closures in metro Atlanta will be suspended from Friday at noon to Tuesday at 9 a.m. GDOT said while some long-term closures may remain in place for safety reasons, no new ones will be added unless there is an emergency.

Traffic is expected to be heavy throughout the area, thanks to a number of major Labor Day events:

* Dragon Con
* AJC Decatur Book Festival
* Black Gay Pride
* Oral-B USA 500 (Atlanta Motor Speedway)
* Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game (Georgia Dome)
* Braves v. Marlins/Phillies (Turner Field)
* Celebrate Freedom (Marietta)

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Wednesday, August 27th, 2014, 9:26am

MARIETTA, Ga. -- The Celebrate Freedom Festival will kick off this year's event with a 5K and 10K race in Marietta.

Both events will be held Saturday, Aug. 30 at Jim R. Miller Park. Registration opens at 6 a.m., with the 10K scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. The 5K will be off and running at 7:40 a.m.

Awards will be given to the first finishers overall, the first masters finishers and the top runners in each age group. All participants will receive T-shirts, goodie bags and two tickets to Celebrate Freedom, a free Christian music festival featuring such artists as Steven Curtis Chapman, Montell Jordan and Tenth Avenue North.

The 5K costs $30 in advance, while the 10K is $35. The prices go up to $40 for the 5K and $45 for the 10K on race morning.

Visit rungeorgia.com for more information and to sign up.

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Friday, August 22nd, 2014, 3:00pm

Continue to avoid the Perimeter this weekend

(WXIA) -- This weekend is expected to be hot, and the Georgia Department of Transportation will take advantage of the weather by using Friday, Saturday and Sunday to work on some much-needed road improvements.

WEATHER | 11Alive meteorologist Chesley McNeil has your weekend forecast

Like last weekend, drivers are asked to avoid Interstate 285 if possible. Lane closures will result in major delays.

Scheduled I-285 projects include:

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Submitted by Beth Sawicki, Where U Live Producer

Thursday, August 21st, 2014, 9:39am

(WXIA) -- Metro Atlanta's unemployment rate was 8.0 percent in July, up from 7.5 percent in June. The rate was 8.3 percent in July 2013.

Cobb County's unemployment rate was 7.2 percent last month.

Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said the increase was due to seasonal layoffs in manufacturing and education. Many of those workers have since returned to their jobs.

In addition, metro Atlanta's private sector created 8,900 jobs in July. Most of the positions were in business; trade and transportation; finance and information services; leisure and hospitality; and construction.

Metro Athens had Georgia's lowest July jobless rate at 6.6 percent. The Heart of Georgia-Altamaha region had the highest at 11.4 percent.

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