Community Corner

Marietta Fire Honors Firefighters, Recruits

An award ceremony to honor firefighters tops today's The 5 Things.

1. The honors the best of the best and welcomes its newest recruits tonight during an award ceremony and recruit graduation. The event will be from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Council Chambers of .

2. Fitch Ratings recently gave Cobb County general obligation bonds its highest rating of AAA, a key indicator of the county's financial management efforts. Stable property tax rates and balanced budgets help determine the rating.

"The county demonstrates strong long-term credit characteristics, including proactive and prudent financial management, a growing and diverse area economy, a low debt burden and a low operating tax rate that provides additional flexibility," Fitch Ratings said in a statement.

Find out what's happening in Mariettawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

3. Start collecting old medication because Keep Cobb Beautiful and Kaiser Permanente of Georgia have joined forces for a Medication Disposal Program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Teams will be collecting old medication as well as needles, catheters, tubing and diabetes materials.

The event will be held at the Cobb County government offices in Powder Springs Station at 1150 Powder Springs Road. Call 770-528-1135 for information or visit cobbcounty.org/kcb.

Find out what's happening in Mariettawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

4. Don't forget to apply for the county homestead exemption by April 1. Applications and information are available at cobbtax.org or by calling 770-528-8600.

5. Happy Old New Year! Huh? Yeah, today is Old New Year's Day, a celebration of the New Year traditions according to the Julian calendar. Most countries adopted the Gregorian calendar after it was introduced in 1582, but not Russia. The Soviet Union finally adopted the calendar in 1918, but the Russian Orthodox Church kept the tradition, so this day is full of feasts and family gatherings. So, Happy Old New Year!


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