1964 Orland Park Elementary School Graduates

49 Graduated and most went on to Carl Sandberg HS where our 49 disappeared into the 1,500 or so students at CSHA.  I don't recall ever having a class with one of my old OPE grads the entire 4 years at CSHS.  I only saw former grade school friends on the school bus and of course in Laguna Woods itself.

The night of the graduation ceremony my mother, step father and I had dinner at a local restaurant and for my graduation present I got a Timex watch.  First watch I ever had.

Around 1956 or 1957, Orland Park, Ill.

Aug 11, 2014

Stopped by Kennesaw City Hall to file an Ethics

 Complaint on the mayor.

Ethics complaint brought against Kennesaw mayor

by Ricky Leroux   August 13, 2014 04:00 AM

KENNESAW — A Kennesaw resident and longtime critic of Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews filed an ethics complaint against the mayor Tuesday, alleging he improperly used public funds on a personal matter, a charge Mathews rebuts.

According to the Kennesaw city code, the city clerk must give the complaint to the Kennesaw Ethics Board within three days. After receiving the complaint, the board will determine its merit. If it is found to be frivolous or unfounded, the board members have the power to dismiss it. If the complaint is found to have merit, however, the board will call a hearing.

According to ciry code, the hearing must be conducted within 60 days of receiving the complaint. If a hearing is not conducted in that time frame, the complaint is automatically dismissed and cannot be refiled for six months.

Tuesday’s ethics complaint is the latest in a long saga of conflict between Bill Harris, a retired retail operations investigator who filed the complaint, and the mayor. The issue at hand involves a website with the address mayormathews.blogspot.com, which Harris writes on.

At the Aug. 4 meeting of the Kennesaw City Council, Mathews described the issue he had with the website.

“There were a couple of different sources that had put out information, one that actually was impersonating me, that was brought to my attention by a citizen, who also pointed out that some of the residents believed that I had made those statements directly,” he said. “And that was inaccurate. And so that had to be addressed.”

After finding out about the blog post, Mathews said he brought it to the attention of the city attorney, Randall Bentley.

“It was brought to my attention and I forwarded it to the city attorney. The city attorney reviewed it, and we discussed it with the city council,” he said.

The discussion resulted in a cease and desist letter being drafted against Harris, which Mathews said was done based on Brantley’s advice.

“It was done at his request, and the council authorized it. I would hope he’s giving proper legal advice and he’s operating within his legal bounds, which I’m confident that he is. And it was done with full authorization with the council,” he said.

The cease and desist letter states the website “appears to impersonate Mayor Mathews by using his name as the title of the blog and stating ‘Current Mayor of Kennesaw, Ga.,’ yet making no claim that is conspicuous and public in manner of the author/ownership by Bill Harris.”

In his ethics complaint, Harris, a Kennesaw resident for more than 13 years, alleges the mayor used “his official position to fraudulently secure personal representation by the Kennesaw City Attorney” to draft a cease and desist letter against Harris.

Harris’ complaint goes on to say the mayor made “false claims of libel and slander” to induce the city council and city attorney to draft the letter.

The complaint also states the issue “was and remains one that the mayor should have taken up with a private attorney paid for out of his own funds and not by using the city attorney to take up the matter.”

Harris claims Mathews used more than $1,000 in city resources to draft the letter.

When made aware of the complaint, council member Cris Eaton-Welsh said she could see both sides of the issue and she would prefer the two parties sat “around a table together and figured it out.”

In the ethics complaint, Harris requests the city council “censure” the mayor, which is defined as an official reprimand. Eaton-Welsh described it differently.

“It means nothing. It’s a slap on the wrist. That’s all it is. A censure is useless. And that’s one of the reasons the ethics commission needs to be autonomous and be able to have some teeth (regarding) what they do,” she said.

Still, she said she believes in the ethics commission, which will now decide the matter.

“I completely have faith that our ethics commission will take a thorough look and make the decision that’s best for our community,” Welsh said.

Lower down this blog site you will find the Harris Family History A narrative by my grandmother, Mable (Kelly) Hunter, typed and commented on by Beverly Elaine (Hunter) Anderson. Both now passed on, as are almost all of those mentioned herein. 

2 poems are by B. E. Anderson and this was put together about 1974 and posted here in Feb. 2006 by C. Harris, P O Box 7252, Marietta, Ga 30067. 

Contact info:  computer201@hotmail.com.  
Relevant Blogs are:  
http://harrisfamilyhistory.blogspot.com,
http://harrisphotostorage.blogspot.com,
http://harriscobbcountygeorgia.blogspot.com

We only get snow now and then, this is now.

1/28/14

World Ends!  Film at 11

I had a 1 pm appt to get the cars oil changed, got 3 miles from home in this traffic and called to cancel the service until Thurs.  

Whole outing, all six miles took nearly 3 hours start to finish, then couldn't get the car up the hill and into the garage, its now parked at the curb.

Kennesaw, Georgia Caught in Winter Impasse

Schools will be closed on Wednesday; most county government offices will have a delayed start while others, including some courts, will be closed.

Posted by Wendy Parker (Editor) , January 28, 2014 at 08:23 PM

Northbound traffic on Interstate 75 North on Tuesday afternoon near 
Delk Road. Photo: 511ga.org

Despite plenty of advance warning, Tuesday's winter storm seemed to take many in metro Atlanta by surprise, as commuters sent home by their employers and students released early were stranded on roads and at schools into the evening hours.

As much as three inches of snow were reported in the metro area, and more than an inch or more in places in Cobb County.

But it was ice that quickly hardened on roads and bridges that made driving treacherous, and all but impossible for many everyday motorists and school bus drivers to go very far at all.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for all 159 counties in Georgia.

Commuters abandoning vehicles

Some Cobb commuters posted on their social media accounts about hours-long traffic jams after employers let them go home.

But some feared they would never get there, as they reported they had abandoned their vehicles and were prepared to spend the night in their offices and get a restaurant meal if they could find one.

"This is absolutely the craziest thing I've ever seen," East Cobb resident Eric Stein posted on Facebook. "Two inches of snow and the ATL is at a complete and total standstill."

Many businesses and colleges and universities closed early, as did public and private preschool and K-12 schools. Kennesaw State University, Southern Polytechnic and State University and all campuses of Chattahoochee Tech will be closed Wednesday.

Even restaurants shut their doors early on Tuesday, including Marietta's venerable Williamson Brothers Bar-B-Q.

Students stuck at schools

Some Cobb schools students (along with teachers and staff) remained at their schools long after they were dismissed early, as bus transportation was delayed due to bad road conditions.

When announcing late Tuesday afternoon that Cobb schools would be closed on Wednesday, district officials did not acknowledge those delays.

But parents complained on the Cobb school district Facebook page that school officials waited too long to release students and perhaps should not have had school at all on Tuesday, a concern that has been echoed by parents across the metro area.

Around 7:20 p.m. Tuesday, Cobb schools did send out this message:

"Severe weather and traffic conditions continue to impact student transportation in several areas of Cobb County. Bus drivers will do their best to deliver students home. If road conditions do not allow students to deliver to their normal stops, students will be returned to school under supervision."

At Marietta City Schools, officials cancelled bus service and asked parents to pick their children up at schools.

As in Cobb, Marietta schools will be closed on Wednesday for students and all staff.