Community Tea

Starting this week, you’ll be able to walk into participating pharmacies and walk out with three free N95 masks after President Joe Biden announced the distribution of 400 million free N95 masks. Here are some places where you can get your free masks in Georgia: Costco, Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Publix, Kroger, and Walmart. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, retail pharmacies participating in the program will vary by state and territory. Those who are interested in getting masks should check the pharmacy’s website to check availability.

The city of Smyrna and Pure Diagnostic is offering a COVID-19 testing site from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays in the city’s downtown area. This location is in the parking lot across from Smyrna First Baptist Church on King Street up the street from Smyrna City Hall. No appointment is required, and most PCR test results are available within 24 hours. The site is a drive-thru and you must have identification. Additional questions should be directed to Pure Diagnostic at 800-303-1146 ext. 106 or info@purediagnostic.com.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has won approval to set up a special grand jury to investigate whether former President Donald Trump violated any laws in his efforts to reverse the outcome of Georgia’s 2020 election. A majority of the county’s Superior Court judges OK’d the request that Willis’ office submitted this month. The special grand jury will be impaneled on May. 2 and can pursue its investigation for up to a year. 

The City of Atlanta is receiving $20 million from Wells Fargo to support small business owners. The mayor’s office made the announcement on Friday saying the funds will be used to help small businesses own more of their assets, including property and equipment, and to enable physical upgrades to their facilities. The United Way of Greater Atlanta will work with Invest Atlanta to distribute the funding as a mix of grants and loans in the city, with a focus on Black-owned and other businesses with diverse ownership. Atlanta small business owners can contact Invest Atlanta for information on the program.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden have finally added the long-promised cat to their pet family. Her name is Willow, and she’s a 2-year-old, green-eyed, gray, and white farm cat from Pennsylvania.  The first lady named Willow after her hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. The White House hasn’t had a feline resident since India, President George W. Bush’s cat. Willow joins Commander, a German shepherd puppy Joe Biden introduced in December as a birthday gift from the president’s brother James Biden and his wife, Sara. 

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced plans Thursday to try to fix Georgia’s criminal records system, which is filled with information gaps that hamper public safety. “As the nation grapples with rising crime, all facets of the judicial system must be properly equipped to respond immediately and effectively,” Duncan said in a statement announcing his plan. The AJC reported this week that the Georgia Crime Information Center (GCIC) database of criminal histories is unreliable because it is missing critical information on the outcome of millions of criminal charges. 

Sedalia Park Elementary School in Marietta has two certified and two classified roles open. If interested, click on the links for more details. 

The SAT exam will move from paper and pencil to a digital format. Administrators say the shift will boost its relevancy as more colleges make standardized tests optional for admission. Test takers will be allowed to use their own laptops or tablets but they’ll still have to sit for the test at a monitored testing site. 

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater announced their return visit to the Fabulous Fox Theatre, February 10 – 13, 2022. Atlantans will be mesmerized and moved with diverse works by preeminent choreographers, including world premieres that shine a spotlight on social issues. All audience members, including children ages 5-18, will be required to provide proof of full Covid-19 vaccination

After 18 seasons, two Super Bowls, and countless team records, with a spot in the Hall of Fame all but secure, Ben Roethlisberger, the longtime Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback announced his retirement last week saying it was “time to clean out my locker and hang up my cleats”. 30-year-old Roethlisberger said, “I don’t know how to put into words what the game of football has meant to me and what a blessing it has been.”

The Atlanta Hawks Trae Young will be an All-Star starter for the second time in his young NBA career. In his fourth NBA season, Young, age 23, joins the Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bulls’ DeMar DeRozan, the Nets’ Kevin Durant, and the Sixers Joel Embiid in the Eastern Conference starter pool for the 2022 NBA All-Star Game. The Western Conference starting pool consists of the Warriors’ Stephen Curry, the Lakers’ LeBron James, the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic, the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant, and the Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins. The All-Star game is on Feb. 20 in Cleveland. James and Durant will be team captains since they finished with the most fan votes in each conference. 

The Saints head coach Sean Payton has stepped aside after 16 seasons, during which he went against six different head coaches for the Atlanta Falcons. 

Microsoft 365 customers are being warned that they could be at risk. The company has issued a warning for users of its office service, noting that a potentially malicious app, currently called Upgrade, is going around via phishing emails sent to hundreds of Office 365 customers. Microsoft says the email asks for users to grant OAuth permissions to create inbox rules, write emails, read emails, and create calendar items. Additionally, it asks for permission to read your contacts.

Automobile maker Kia is recalling more than 410,000 vehicles because of concerns about airbags that may not deploy in a crash.The recall includes certain 2017 Kia Forte coupes, 2017-2018 Kia Fortes, 2017-2019 Kia Sedonas, 2017-2019 Kia Souls, and 2017-2019 Kia Soul EVs. Airbag control unit covers in the vehicles may contact a memory chip on the printed circuit board and damage the electrical circuit, which “may result” in airbags that will not activate in a crash, increasing the risk of injury, according to a statement from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert due to concerns that ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken salad products are produced by Simply Fresh Market, a Marietta, Ga. establishment, may be contaminated with Listeria. IMPACTED PRODUCTS – 8 oz and 16 oz deli hinged containers of Simply Fresh Market Chicken Salad Apples and Walnut.

In addition to February being Black History Month, other observances in the month include:

• National Cancer Prevention Month
• National Fasting February
• National Self Check Month
• American Heart Month

Have a wonderful week…