Tower Power, Pet Benefit, Council Strife

1. The weather remains dangerously hot. The high will be in the mid-90s, the National Weather Service says, and the humidity will make it feel like it’s about 100. There’s a 40 percent chance of afternoon thunderstorms providing some relief, as well as a 30 percent chance of showers at night. The overnight low will be about 74. We’re under a heat advisory and a Code Orange smog advisory.

2. The celebrates the completion of this morning at 10 at the 80-apartment senior living complex at 212 Lemon St. The dedication will include a reception and speeches by Mayor Steve Tumlin and MHA Executive Director Ray Buday.

3. The Wine to Win benefit for the Spay/Neuter Coalition is today from 5 to 7 p.m. at the , 18 Powder Springs St. For $15, you get a wine tasting with light hors d’oeuvres and help limit the number of unwanted cats and dogs. Email spayneutercoalition@gmail.com for more information.

4. Fresh off reports that the Cobb commissioners are less than thrilled with the Citizens Oversight Committee’s , the committee gets back to work at 9 a.m. at 100 Cherokee St. The county Board of Zoning Appeals holds a variance hearing in the same building four hours later; see the attached agenda. At the city level, the City Council meets at 6 p.m. to review its agenda, then moves on to the regular meeting at 7. The issues include a policy on seeking attorney fees from people, such as City Council member Philip Goldstein, who unsuccessfully sue Marietta, the Marietta Daily Journal reports.

5. A notice on the Cobb County website announces what once would have been shocking news: “The Cobb County Board of Commissioners has tentatively adopted a millage rate which will require an increase in property taxes.” (Click on “Notice of Tax Increase.”) It’s actually three increases, in the general, fire and debt-service funds, raising the overall property tax rate from 9.6 to 11.21 mills. But the announcement is a bit confusing because it addresses the increases from the maximum rates now allowed, not the actual rates. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Marietta Daily Journal have reported that the proposed increase would add about $111 to the tax bill of a house with a fair-market value of $200,000, but our math points to the total being about $120, which probably says something about journalists and math. We’ll all get the complete story next Tuesday when the board holds public hearings on the proposal at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. at 100 Cherokee St. The commissioners will adopt the millage rate July 26 at 7 p.m. Georgia Tea Party board member Tom Maloy in a column Tuesday.