1. The surging campaign of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is gaining more visible public support on his old stomping grounds.  State Rep. Sharon Cooper of East Cobb was front and center earlier this week as Gov. Nathan Deal led a group of more than 60 Georgia Republican elected officials in officially endorsing Gingrich, who was not present at the announcement at the state capitol in Atlanta.  Both of Cobb's Congressmen, Phil Gingrey of Marietta and Tom Price, who holds Gingrich's former House seat that includes East Cobb, also are on board.  East Cobb resident Sen. Johnny Isakson has not…

1. For the third time since 1995, Sprayberry High School has been named a School of Excellence by the Georgia Department of Education.  The Sandy Plains Road school and Hillgrove High School in West Cobb were the only Cobb schools so honored for 2011. Sprayberry's latest designation (1995, 2002) is the 33rd for a school in the East Cobb area since the School of Excellence program started in 1984. Among high schools, Lassiter has four (1992, 1999, 2008 and 2011), while Pope (1990, 2009) and Walton (1984, 2005) have two each. Wheeler was named in 1986.  According to the Cobb County School …

1. Maybe I'm just getting nostalgiac, but Alice Cooper's act doesn't seem so outrageous now as it did when I was a kid in the '70s. I realized it was fake blood before my elders did, but bringing the boa constrictor on stage didn't improve their perceptions of his act. One of the originators of rock concert-as-spectacle is bringing his "No More Mr. Nice Guy" tour to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre at 8 p.m. tonight.  And "energy" is the key word here. I don't know where this 60-something still has it, and I'm not sure what he's going to use as stage props.  But if you're interested in …

1. It was as anticlimactic as it was disappointing. Walton's 24-0 loss to Grayson in the Class AAAAA state championship game Saturday night felt like it was over before halftime, as the Raiders couldn't get anything going against the best team, and especially the best defense, they faced all season.  It was tough watching Walton coach Rocky Hidalgo and his players hold the runner-up trophy and fighting back emotions. But a 14-1 season and some of the best football played by a Cobb team in years is something to celebrate.  Grayson better not hope they draw Walton in boys lacrosse or girls …

1. Temperatures in the low 90s, with stifling humidity, are in the forecast not only for this Memorial Day but through the rest of the week in the metro Atlanta area. Be prepared to hear early-morning smog alerts like the one that woke us up this morning.  2. Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church put on a stirring tribute to veterans and first responders on Sunday, and later this morning we'll have more video highlights from the "We Will Not Forget Service," which featured some emotional reflections from New York firefighters on the scene after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. 3. Memorial Day …

1. The sun is pretty much taking the day off, preparing to shine throughout a spectacular weekend full of Easter egg hunts, sunrise services and brunches. Today, expect to see a lot of clouds and occasional rain; one line of showers quietly moved through around 3:30 this morning and another just after 5. There's a 40 percent chance of more rain at times today, according to the National Weather Service. The high will be about 74 and the overnight low around 55. 2. Did we mention Easter events? Here's a roundup of the best options, and be sure to check out East Cobb Patch's calendar for all …

1. Here's hoping you slept through the thunderstorms that swept through East Cobb around 3 a.m. They didn't last long, so we're hoping no one experienced anything worse than a brief power outage (Marietta Power reports no outages in our area as of 5 a.m.). The National Weather Service says we could see some more rain and scattered storms the rest of today and tonight, but the worst should be behind us. Look for a high of 78 degrees and an overnight low of 61. 2. The Pope High School band is holding its annual musical/theatrical extravaganza, XPlosion!, tonight and Friday night at 7 at the …

1. The beautiful weather will likely come crashing to an end today. The National Weather Service says there's a 70 percent chance of rain today, including severe thunderstorms any time after 8 a.m. The high will be about 77, with a low of 60 and a 40 percent chance of more rain tonight. The cause is a cold front that's moving in and will settle for a couple of days, making similar storms possible Thursday and Friday as well. 2. Did you know that when our 10-county region votes next year on a regional 1-cent Transportation SPLOST, the majority of voters across the region will carry the day? …

1. Today will be a beautiful spring day, according to the National Weather Service—sunny with a pleasant breeze and a high around 83 degrees. But the wind will pick up in the afternoon, gusting to 20 mph, as a warning of what's coming Wednesday, when another line of severe thunderstorms is expected to hit hard. 2. Congratulations to the teachers and eighth-graders at East Cobb's Dickerson and Dodgen middle schools, which posted the highest average scores in Cobb County on the state's Eighth Grade Writing Assessment with 240 and 236, respectively, according a news release from the Cobb County …

If you're among those who haven't met your obligations to the Internal Revenue Service and Georgia Department of Revenue, today is absolutely T-Day.  Proscrastinators (including yours truly) have until midnight to scramble to mail or email their federal and state tax returns. Because of a D.C. holiday on Friday, the deadline was extended, but time is running out.  On Saturday we posted some tips to help you get going, and I'm seriously thinking of filing electronically for the first time this year. There are some things I still do on paper, and this has been one of them.  But the instructions…

Tennis rivalries are the stuff of legend.  Evert vs. Navratilova. Connors vs. McEnroe. Ashe vs. Smith. Court vs. King. Rosewall vs. Laver. Agassi vs. Sampras. Venus vs. Serena.  The Walton girls vs. . . .  Anybody? Um, no. Not now, not for the last eight years.  And maybe not for another eight years. The Lady Raiders surprised nobody this week by notching their eighth consecutive Region 5AAAAA title, and are expected to roll to an eighth straight state crown next weekend. (Walton's boys ended Etowah's streak of five straight region titles on Thursday.) The Walton girls haven't been beaten …

Well, here's another reason to get sidetracked from doing regular errands in the Merchants Walk Area.  The Cook's Warehouse is coming.  Oh yes it is.  Gourmet and homebody cooks alike who have been flocking to metro Atlanta locations in Buckhead, Decatur and Brookhaven to get the latest in fine cookware, cutlery and appliance will be able to do so in East Cobb starting in the summer.  The 4,800-square foot space will be located right next to the Whole Foods location that also will open this summer.  Isn't it enough that Gigi's Cupcakes is staring me down as I pick up kitty supplies at …

After a few weeks of live-blogging from some significant events -- commissioner Bob Ott's town hall meetings, the WellStar East Cobb Health Park presentation to the East Cobb Civic Association and Tuesday's Cobb commission meeting, we're eager to hear what you think about reporting on these events this way.  We've already heard from a few of you who think we need to consolidate our postings on Facebook and Twitter, and after doing a few of these events myself, I have to say I agree.  The Cobb Patch sites have been experimenting with this format to present an immediate, real-time response to …

As the Cobb Board of Commissioners is set to vote this morning on the latest and still-mysterious budget plan -- and threaten the dysfunctional exploits of their friends over at the Cobb Board of Education -- the politics of the county deficit are as clear as the $31 million gap between revenues and expenses.  The AJC examines the apparent motives behind commission chairman Tim Lee's startling proposal late last week to close 13 of the 17 Cobb libraries that has caused such a firestorm that a silent protest was held on the Marietta Square late Monday afternoon.  The tax-related suspicions …

This wasn't how Cobb library lovers thought they would be observing National Library Week, which began this morning.  Instead of encouraging their fellow citizens to patronize county libraries in the usual and unremarkable ways, they've been busy organizing a rapid lobbying effort to save the library system from being gutted in wake of serious Cobb budget deficit concerns.  Since it launched late Friday afternoon, the "Save Cobb Libraries" Facebook page has generated 1,636 "likes" and plenty of comments from surprised and bewildered citizens, many taken aback by commission chairman Tim Lee's …

1. Sunny with a high around 75 degrees and a gentle 5-mph breeze—now that's what I call spring. Give me a clear sky and no need to run the heat or the air conditioning at home, and I'm happy this time of year. That's the kind of day the National Weather Service is promising today. 2. Speaking of the National Weather Service, will we still be able to count on the flow of information out of its Peachtree City office if the federal government shuts down this weekend? According to The Washington Post, yes, we shouldn't be left in the dark about, well, whether we'll be left in the dark by more …

1. We'd like to say Day 3 of spring break is returning us to weather normalcy, but not quite. The National Weather Service has us under a frost advisory until 9 a.m., and that's just not right during an East Cobb spring. But the temperature will rise to around 70 today, which is about normal, and the winds should be calmer, generally between 5 and 10 mph. The low tonight is expected to be a more reasonable 44. 2. It's also hard to believe after the inch of rain overnight Monday, but we're also facing a fire-danger situation from noon to 8 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. We'll…

1. The beautiful weekend weather should continue at least through midday today with a high around 81 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, but then things will begin to turn to ugly. The wind will pick up, gusting to 30 mph, and there's a chance of a storm after 2 p.m. After 8, the National Weather Service says, severe thunderstorms are a certainty, with strong winds and rain totals of 1 to 2 inches overnight. 2. Cobb County public schools, along with most other school systems in the area, are on spring break this week. That means no school buses driving around, and commuting …

1. Registration for kindergarten begins today in the Cobb County School District, and there's quite a list of things for parents to do and know before they can sign up their children for the fall.  There's information here about enrollment, identification and immunization requirements, a bus route finder, online forms to fill out, other documents and instructions and information in Spanish.  2. Time is running out for parents to order Final Exam Survivor Kits for Walton High School students. These goodie bags include snacks, bottled water and a personal note of encouragement to students as …

1. The anticipated crowd for East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott's town-hall meeting tonight has prompted a change in venue.  Instead of convening at the East Cobb Government Center, the meeting will take place instead across the street at Mount Bethel United Methodist Church, 4385 Lower Roswell Road.  The meeting time stays the same, 7 p.m., and it could go on for a while.  I've attended a couple of Ott's town halls before, and they're usually brimming with good information and patient explanations from him and county officials about how various government processes work.  I was taken aback after…