Politics & Government

5 Cobb Men Indicted on Drug Trafficking, Money Laundering; Sneiderman's Bond Hearing Set

Here are some of the day's top headlines from around Marietta and metro Atlanta.

Sneiderman’s Bond Hearing Set

Andrea Sneiderman will have a bond hearing on Aug. 21 that could get her out of DeKalb County jail as she awaits arraignment and other court proceedings, according to the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.

The bond could include a provision that she not try to influence witnesses, according to the report. Sneiderman was removed from the courtroom during the trial of . 

Read more on Dunwoody Patch. 

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Canton’s Assistant Police Chief Fired

Todd Vande Zande, who temporarily took the helm of the Canton Police Department after the agency faced widespread criticism for its role in the search of 7-year-old Jorelys Rivera, was fired today.

"I have confirmed that Todd Vande Zande’s employment was terminated today," city attorney Bobby Dyer wrote in an email to Canton-Sixes Patch.

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, Atlanta lawyer Lance J. LoRusso said in a letter to the mayor, the city manager, the new police chief and all six members of the Canton City Council. 

Read more on Canton-Sixes Patch.  

Dallas Man Involved in Rollover Crash

A Dallas man was the sole person involved in a rollover crash Saturday afternoon that led Paulding authorities to shut down the roadway.

Via a Nixle alert, Paulding County E911 just before 5 p.m. Saturday advised locals to avoid Highway 92 north of  following a rollover crash.

Read more on Dallas-Hiram Patch. 

After 50 Years, a new Clarkdale Floods With Hope

Like a phoenix from the ashes, the students, teachers and parents at Clarkdale Elementary are like their own four pet turtles that survived a flood. Not just any flood, but a flood that only comes around every 100 years or so.

The family of Clarkdale Elementary survived the floods of 2009, survived being divided amongst two schools and survived even a few frightening weeks when they weren’t sure they would have a school ever again.

But on Saturday at the campus of their new school, those who are a part of this school community, or ever had been, celebrated Clarkdale's 50-year legacy. Principal Marjorie Bickerstaff cut the red ribbon and opened the doors and the only thing that came rushing in was not floodwaters, but a sea of people with unbreakable spirits and hearts swollen with fulfilled hope.

Read more on South Cobb Patch.  

UGA Basketball Player Cleared After Lenox Square Arrest

Donte Williams, a University of Georgia Basketball Player, told media last week that he had been cleared of marijuana charges leveled against him after he was  in May.

Sitting alongside Coach Mark Fox at a press conference, Williams issued this statement, according to the AJC:

“I know everybody here is aware of the incident that took place on May 25th. First I want to apologize for bringing negative attention to the University and towards me team and towards my family. But I want the truth to be known that I don’t do drugs. Soon after the incident I took a drug test; passed my drug test. I came up here and passed my drug test and took another drug test for the court and passed that drug test. The case has been dismissed. Since then I have moved on and focused on basketball, focused on school and I’m getting ready for the season now. That’s it.”

Read more on Buckhead Patch. 

5 South Cobb Men Indicted on Drug Trafficking and Money Laundering Charges

Following a yearlong, multi-agency investigation of two drug trafficking organizations, five South Cobb men and nine others have been indicted and arrested on charges of trafficking narcotics from Mexico and laundering the drug money.

During the course of the investigation of both narcotics trafficking rings, a total of $1.6 million, multiple kilograms of cocaine and crystal methamphetamine were seized.

“The indictment of these 14 defendants is a step toward making Atlanta a safer community,” stated U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates in a release.

According to Yates and the information presented in court, in January 2011, federal law enforcement officers began investigating a Mexican cocaine and marijuana drug trafficking organization operating in Metro Atlanta.

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