Monday, August 13, 2012
Retail stores in unincorporated areas of the county started selling on Sunday.
- GOVERNMENT
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Monday, August 13, 2012
The bluest of Cobb's blue laws has become a thing of the past. After years of legislative delays and a revote in a recent referendum, citizens living or shopping in unincorporated Cobb were able to buy alcohol at retail outlets on Sunday for the first time. Grocery stores and bottle shops throughout the county were preparing for Sunday opening hours and advertising that fact to customers. Under state law, no Sunday alcohol sales—retail or in a restaurant—can be made before 12:30 p.m. Cobb voters overwhelmingly passed a Sunday sales referendum during the Georgia presidential primary in March, but the validity of that vote was challenged. Specifically, the referendum question was on ballots in unincorporated Cobb but not in municipalities…
Monday, July 30, 2012
During today's primary elections, residents will cast party ballots for commission and school board seats, state senators and representatives, a sales tax increase for transportation projects and much more.
Voters in Cobb and across Georgia will be exercising their democratic arms today as they decide who will represent them at the local, state and federal levels, and whether to raise their sales tax by 1 percent to fund transportation projects. You can read about who is taking part in Cobb-wide races below, as well as see where their names will appear on the ballot in the attached sample ballots. The polls are open today from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you don’t know what precinct to go to, you can check the “My Voter Page” online. Original Report As far as local government is concerned, it seems that Tuesday’s primary elections in Cobb will carry far more weight than the general election in November. All three Board of Commissioners races have …
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
City residents will join unincorporated Cobb County in voting on the alcohol referendum this time.
- ELECTIONS
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Wednesday, April 4, 2012
A Paulding County judge has made it official: All of Cobb County will vote again on Sunday package sales of alcohol July 31. Superior Court Judge Arthur Fudger signed a consent order Monday between the county and plaintiffs who challenged the March 6 referendum in which residents of unincorporated voted to allow Sunday sales, The Marietta Daily Journal reported. The order was filed with the Cobb County Superior Court clerk's office Tuesday. Former state Rep. Roger Hines of Acworth made the challenge, arguing that the county was wrong to exclude residents of Cobb's six cities from the countywide vote. Fudger received the case because Cobb's Superior Court judges recused themselves. The county Board of Elections and Registration decided …
Saturday, March 24, 2012
The elections board's decision means a July 31 referendum is likely, and sales could start Aug. 12.
Cobb County is back on the Sunday wagon, at least until mid-August. The county Board of Elections and Registration decided during a special meeting Friday morning not to fight a voter challenge to the referendum that approved Sunday package sales of alcohol in unincorporated parts of Cobb. That means Sunday sales will not start June 3 as now scheduled. It also means all citizens in Cobb County will likely have the chance to vote on Sunday sales again July 31, even though almost 70 percent of county voters already said yes March 6. The problem is that residents of Cobb’s six cities were excluded from the countywide referendum despite paying taxes, electing officials and receiving services from the county and voting on other countywide …
Friday, March 16, 2012
A Marietta lawyer says the ballots in the county's six municipalities should have included the option for unincorporated Cobb.
Cobb County's Sunday alcohol sales vote is being taken to court. Marietta lawyer Justin O'Dell of Cauthron, Nohr & O’Dell filed a petition in Cobb County Superior Court today to ask for a revote that includes the residents of the county's six cities as well as those who live in unincorporated areas, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. "The county will be in court and will provide information to the judge as to what our opinion was based on," county spokesman Robert Quigley said in an email. County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee acknowledged to the AJC and the Marietta Daily Journal that excluding city residents was a mistake. If a judge agrees, O'Dell said, the only option is to throw out the March 6 vote and hold another …
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
With 62 percent of citizens casting their ballots in favor today, the sales will go into effect as soon as the tally is certified by Cobb the Board of Elections & Registration.
Alcohol bottles didn't exactly have a clear path to Sunday shelves in Powder Springs before receiving majority support from voters today. In June, the City Council rejected sending the measure to voters, with Councilwoman Rosalyn Neal saying, "If they want to buy liquor, they can do it on Saturday." But following November's elections, when many municipalities and counties across Georgia presented citizens with the option, the council brought the issue up again. It passed 4-1, with Councilwoman Nancy Hudson opposed. "For me to be true to my religious and moral beliefs and after seeing what the effects and consequences of alcohol can do to an individual and families, I cannot with a good conscious give my vote to the Sunday sale of alcohol…
Powder Springs residents will head to the polls today to cast their ballots for who they think should receive the GOP presidential nomination, as well as Sunday alcohol sales.
Super Tuesday has arrived. It's when 10 states, by way of caucus or primary, show their support for one of the four remaining Republican presidential candidates. Georgia has the most delegates at stake today with 76, and candidate Newt Gingrich appears to be banking on a victory here in his home state to keep his campaign alive. Democrats will also be voting today, though the only person on their ballot is President Barack Obama. Another item being voted on today is Sunday alcohol sales for Powder Springs and unincorporated Cobb. In June, the Powder Springs City Council shot down the idea of putting Sunday sales on the Nov. 8 ballot. Then in November, they decided to send the sales to today's polls. If the overwhelming support in November …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
But neighbors’ Sunday experiences since November could dampen expectations for a surge in Cobb County alcohol sales.
Expect two things when Cobb County voters decide a week from today whether to expand Sunday sales of alcohol: • The measures will pass. • Sales of booze won’t change much. Those are the main lessons voters in Marietta, Powder Springs, Austell and unincorporated Cobb can learn from areas that approved Sunday sales referendums in November. The only Cobb citizens who don’t get to vote on Sunday sales in next week’s primary are residents of the cities of Kennesaw, Acworth and Smyrna, all of which approved their own referendums Nov. 8. Under what you could call the lottery effect—all our neighbors are doing it, so we should too—pressure grew for years for Georgia to join most states in allowing Sunday alcohol sales, something only Indiana and …
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Those going to the polls will vote in the presidential primary, and for most in Cobb, Sunday alcohol.
Early voting for the presidential primary began Monday and will continue through March 2. Sunday sales for Powder Springs and unincorporated Cobb are also on the ballot. Sample ballots for Democrats and Republicans, as well as those simply participating in the county's special elections, are attached. Vote early at 736 Whitlock Ave. in Marietta, Feb. 13-March 2, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Feb. 25, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Satellite advance voting begins Feb. 27 and will also continue until March 2. Those locations and times are: Election Day is March 6, and the polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you don't know which precinct you're zoned for, check your Voter Precinct Card or call 770-528-2581.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
If Powder Springs voters approve the sales in March, it appears the only real adjustments will come from liquor stores, which, unlike convenience stores and grocers, must decide whether to open on Sundays and for how long.
For Powder Springs residents, Sunday package alcohol sales will appear on the March 6, 2012 ballot along with the presidential primary. The City Council rejected the idea in June, preventing it from being on the Nov. 8 ballot. Then after the elections, members had a change of heart, voting 4-1 to send the measure to the polls in March. In a Patch poll, 69 out of 75 voters were in favor of Sunday sales. Users can vote more than once in the poll. Residents of unincorporated Cobb will also have have the option on the March ballot. It doesn't appear that Sunday sales will have that much of an impact on grocers and convenience stores other than additional revenue because they'd be open anyways. But in talking with Powder Springs liquor store …
Kristin Stafford
11:41 am on Saturday, March 24, 2012
Ridiculous stall tactics. more ›