Baseball, Football, Rodeo and Politics

1. More of the same on the weather front today, according to the National Weather Service: hot, humid, partly sunny, with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Any thunderstorms that pop up could be severe. The high will be about 92, and the overnight low will be about 73. The real heat will kick in Tuesday and Wednesday, when the high will hit the upper 90s.

2. Afternoon thunderstorms would be a shame today because of a couple of fun outdoor activities. At Sewell Park in East Cobb, the 12-year-old Milford Little League all-stars are playing host East Marietta at 1 p.m. for the District 2 championship and a spot in the state tournament in a couple of weeks in Cartersville. It’s a chance for Milford to avenge of the tournament. If you can’t make it to Sewell Park, you can watch the game live online.

3. The second spectator sport of the day is the Down and Dirty Rodeo at . It’s a traditional rodeo with a twist: It’s also raising money and awareness to fight prostate cancer. The Marietta Daily Journal has more details about the health angle. The fun starts at 2:30 p.m. Call 404-931-1042 for more information.

4. Sticking with the sports theme, Blue Devil Football Camp for boys and girls ages 6 to 13 runs Tuesday through Thursday this week. As noted above, we won’t exactly have football weather those days, but camp organizers have wisely scheduled the noncontact camp for 6 to 8 p.m. each day to avoid the worst of the heat. If you didn’t sign up in advance by July 1, you can walk up and register at 5 p.m. Tuesday for $75 for the three days. See the flier for more details, or visit the Blue Devil football website.

5. Then there’s the great indoor sport, politics. We should see plenty of it playing out locally the next couple of weeks after Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairman Tim Lee announced his proposal to increase the county millage rate from 9.6 to 11.21 mills, as reported Saturday by the MDJ. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the change would add $111 to the tax bill for a $200,000 house. Public hearings on the millage rate will be held at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. July 19 at 100 Cherokee St., both newspapers report. Do you think it's time for Cobb's first tax increase of the millennium?