Summer Is as Summer Does

1. Welcome officially to summer, and, appropriately, we’ll have a typical summer day. This mostly sunny day will hit a high of about 91 with no wind in the morning and a gentle breeze arriving along with increasing cloudiness in the afternoon, the National Weather Service says. The overnight low will be about 71. Through the afternoon and into the evening there will be a 20 percent chance of showers.

2. The weekly open play date for children from preschool through fifth grade is this morning from 10 to 11:30. Today’s theme is Art in the Park. For a more adult outing, East Cobb author Jonathan Jordan is making an appearance this evening at 7 at the Bookmiser location at 4651 Sandy Plains Rd. As he did recently at and the in New Orleans, Jordan will talk about his latest World War II book, Brothers, Rivals, Victors. Meanwhile, the National Park Service is offering free admission to parks today.

3. The Cobb County Board of Commissioners is holding a zoning meeting today at 9 a.m. in the boardroom at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta. The closest item of interest to East Cobb is Unity North Atlanta Church’s application for a land use permit for a child care center just across Sandy Plains Road in Northeast Cobb. The full agenda is in the PDF file to the right.

4. We told you Monday about the efforts of the East Marietta National Little League’s 9-10-year-old all-star team in the District 2 tournament at Murphey Candler Park in Brookhaven. Well, professional photographer Jonathan Phillips shot photos at the games and has posted his favorites at his website. Here are the photos from East Marietta’s win over Ben Hill, and here are the shots from the team’s loss to Milford. Meanwhile, East Marietta plays in the semifinals of the tournament this evening.

5. Newsweek magazine is out with its latest rankings of the top 500 public high schools in America, and it should come as no surprise that the highest-ranked school in Georgia is right here in East Cobb: . Walton ranks 67th in the nation, based on a formula combining graduation rate, college entrance rate, Advanced Placement tests taken, AP classes offered, SAT average, and averages on AP and International Baccalaureate tests. The only other Cobb school among the 12 in Georgia to make the list is at No. 489.