2024
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April 25, 2024 | A p p e n M e d i a . c o m | A n A p p e n M e d i a G r o u p P u b l i c a t i o n | 5 0 ¢ | Vo l u m e 3 , N o . 1 7
North Springs student chosen for prized spot in dance camp SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — North Springs High School announced 11th grader Destyni Cohen has received a scholarship to attend an exclusive dance program this July. Cohen, enrolled in the school’s performing arts magnet program, auditioned as one of the more than 250 dancers competing for 25 spots in the DC NEXT 2024 Summer Choreographic Intensive Program July 8-26 at Georgia Tech. Cohen also received a tuition merit and financial assistance scholarship to attend the summer program.
See COHEN, Page 45
HAYDEN SUMLIN/APPEN MEDIA
City Attorney Dan Lee, center, discusses the purchase of right-of-way and construction easements from Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church for the Johnson Ferry Road and Mount Vernon Highway intersection improvements.
City eyes federal funds for priority projects By HAYDEN SUMLIN hayden@appenmedia.com
JOHN NALLS STUDIOS /PROVIDED
Destyni Cohen, an 11th grader at North Springs High School, hits a split leap during a photo shoot. Cohen won a coveted spot in the DC NEXT 2024 Summer Choreographic Intensive Program at Georgia Tech this July.
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. — Sandy Springs officials approved a slate of grant applications to the Atlanta Regional Commission April 16 and applied for additional paving funds from the state. Public Works Director Marty Martin discussed the proposed use of external funds and the likelihood of receiving the money. For the past six months, each time Martin presents an item to the City Council, Mayor Rusty Paul asks him if there’s an update on the Mount Vernon Highway bridge over I-285. Last September, a tractor-trailer crash at the overpass shut down the
vital north-south connector and required a months-long detour. Not reporting any change with the timeline for construction, Martin said the Georgia Department of Transportation still estimates the bridge will open by the end of the month. During the meeting, Martin first discussed an additional funding request for GDOT’s Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant in fiscal year 2024. Gov. Brian Kemp and the General Assembly amended the state’s budget to allow local governments to request additional funds for needed projects, with no city match required. Sandy Springs’ supplemental distribution of state funds is just under $1.3 million.
Martin said the application to the state will cover about 3.7 miles of roadways, identified in the city’s fiscal year 2024 repaving contract. Using a pavement condition index, the Public Works Department identified six segments for the supplemental funds: • 0.56 miles on High Brook Drive between High Point Road and a cul-de-sac • 0.85 miles on Riveredge Parkway between Northside Drive and Interstate North Parkway • 0.69 miles on Island Drive between Rebel Trail and Jett Road • 0.61 miles on Long Island Drive NW between Glencastle Drive and Tara Trail
See CITY, Page 45