East Cobb Week in Review, March 14-20

While being rejected by a of voters in East Cobb, the 2011 Cobb SPLOST referendum in overall in the county, with a mere 79 votes to spare. That's not enough to trigger an automatic recall, and the Cobb Board of Elections is expected to certify the final vote on Monday. 

The four-year extension of the current penny sales tax is expected to collect an estimated $492 million from 2012-2015, including around $55 million to be used for transportation, facilities and parks and recreational improvements in East Cobb. 

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An 86-year-old East Cobb woman who went missing from her home on Wednesday several hours later in Rockmart. Bettie Lee Holley, who suffers from Alzheimer's and dementia, drove away from her Indian Hills residence in mid-afternoon and was returned by law enforcement authorities in the west Georgia town where she was found. 

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Cobb police are investigating at an East Cobb gaming store in which the suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. The holdup at the GamingStop location on Roswell Road, near Johnson Ferry Road, was the second robbery of a small East Cobb retail store in less than a month. A GNC store further west on Roswell Road  by a lone gunman on Feb. 23.

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The upcoming renovation project at Wheeler High School at a community forum on Thursday, with Cobb schools officials and architects cautioning parents that the next two school years "will test everyone's patience." 

Major logistical changes, including portable classrooms, limited student parking and other inconveniences will mark the $20.3 million, 18-month project. The main building of the 46-year-old school will be torn down to make way for a two-story replacement.