Lockheed Local Ratifies Contract; Strike Averted

1. Lockheed Martin union workers opted to approve a new three-year contract late Sunday, effectively avoiding the threat of a strike at the Marietta aircraft manufacturing plant.

In a statement, the company praised good faith negotiations between Lockheed and the International Association of Machinists. The ratified contract went into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Monday and covers about 6,000 employees in Georgia, California and other locations. Local 709 had urged its members to vote against the contract and go on strike.

2. Summer may be several months away, but it's not too late to think about where to ditch... ahem... send the kids this summer when school let's out. Consider checking out the Cobb Summer Camp Expo 2011, sponsored by the .

will be held from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today at the .day camps, art camps, church camps, overnight camps, performing art programs, tennis camps and much more. Marietta Patch will stop by to gather notes for a summer camp-related article later this week.

For information, send an e-mail to Wendy.Collins@cobbcounty.org or call 770-528-8885.

3. Tonight is another opportunity to delve deeper into the Cobb EMC debacle as two Georgia consumer watchdog groups host another forum about electric membership corporations. The forum will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. today at the at 2063 Canton Road.

For information, visit www.cobbemcwatch.org, call 770-592-9424 or send an e-mail to cobbsmartenergy@aol.com.

4. For your civic duty enjoyment for today, there's a meeting at 9 a.m. today at the board's conference room on the second floor of . Check Marietta Patch later for details from the meeting.

5. It's Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday. Pancake Day. International House of Pancakes Day. Pazcki Day. So it's all about flapjacks and Johnnie Cakes, eh? See y'all at Waffle House.