Registered Cobb County voters can vote early at the Elections Main Office (West Park Government Center), 736 Whitlock Ave., Marietta, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday thru Friday, through Nov. 2.
 
Saturday voting: Oct. 20 and 27
Advance voting will be available on two Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.:

• Elections Main Office, 736 Whitlock Ave., Marietta
• Jim R. Miller Park Event Center, 2245 Callaway Road, Marietta

More locations and evening hours begin Oct. 22
 
Oct. 22 - 26, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.: 

• Jim R. Miller Park Event Center, 2245 Callaway Rd., Marietta, GA 30008

Oct. 29 – Nov. 2, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 

• Jim R. Miller Park Event Center, 2245 Callaway Road, Marietta
• East Cobb Government Service Center, 4400 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta                                                           
• South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive, Mableton
• Boots Ward Recreation Center (Lost Mountain Park), 4845 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs
• North Cobb Senior Center, 3900 S. Main St., Acworth
• Noonday Baptist Church, 4120 Canton Road, Marietta
• East Cobb Senior Center, 3332 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta
• Windy Hill Community Center, 1885 Roswell St. SE, Smyrna
• South Cobb Recreation Center, 875 Riverside Parkway, Austell
• Powder Springs Library, 4181 Atlanta St., Powder Springs

For more information, visit cobbelections.org or call Cobb Elections at 770-528-2581.

Celebrate a "fang-tastic" holiday this October with a special adoption event from Cobb Animal Services. Through Wednesday, Oct. 31, all spayed or neutered kittens and puppies are available for only $25 each. All spayed and neutered adult cats and dogs and available for $10 each. The animal shelter is located at 1060 Al Bishop Drive, Marietta, and hours of operation are 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Saturdays and 2-5 p.m. on Sundays.

Put on your costumes and bring the whole family to the 19th annual Fall Festival of Fun 4:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 31, at Jim Miller Park. This great event is a safe alternative to traditional Trick-or-Treating in neighborhoods. It will include arts and crafts, games, inflatable rides, police and fire activities, costume dance contests for kids and adults, coloring contests, a photo booth and other surprises. Parking, entrance to the park, games, candy and contests are free (there is a fee for concessions and inflatable rides). Be sure to bring a bag to carry all of your candy. Miller Park is located at 2245 Callaway Road, Marietta.

The next Medication Disposal Event is planned for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, at Precinct One, 2380 Cobb Parkway, Kennesaw. Bring unused and expired medications to the event for safe disposal. Staff and law enforcement personnel will be at this location to collect medications and properly dispose of them in compliance with federal law. Medicines do not have to be removed from their containers and labels do not have to be removed.

No needles/sharps or durable medical equipment accepted. Nothing will be accepted at this address by any Cobb County employee before or after the scheduled drop-off time. For details, review the event flyer by clicking here. For more information on Keep Cobb Beautiful and its activities and events, visit keepcobbbeautiful.org or call 770-528-1135.

The Community Emergency Response Team program trains people to be better prepared to respond to emergency situations in their communities. When emergencies happen, CERT members can give critical support to first responders, provide immediate assistance to victims and organize spontaneous volunteers at a disaster site. CERT members can also help with non-emergency projects that help improve the safety of the community. You can register now for CERT initial training in November. The classes will be held 9 a.m.-5 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 3, 10 and 17, at the Cobb County Emergency Operations Center, 140 North Marietta Parkway, Marietta.

There are limited seats available. Students must attend all sessions to complete the program and participants must be at least 16 years old. If you would like to register for the program, complete the online application by clicking here and send in a clear photo copy of any Georgia ID. All applications are due by noon, Wednesday, Oct. 24. If you have questions, contact Bernard King at bernard.king@cobbcounty.org or 770-499-4568.

A public hearing was held last week for Cobb County’s biannual code amendment recommendation. These recommendations are brought forward by county staff or a commissioner to be considered by the Board of Commissioners. The following chapters in County Code are included in this recommendation:

• 2: Administration – Economic Development
• 50: Environment
• 54: Fire Prevention and Protection
• 58: Floods
• 22: Utilities
• 134: Zoning

The next public hearing for this code amendment package will be held 7 p.m., Oct. 23, in the BOC Room at 100 Cherokee St., Marietta. To view the amendments being proposed, download the Draft Code Amendment Package.

CobbLinc staff is proposing several changes to its local and commuter bus service and the Cobb Board of Commissioners wants your input. Visit linkingcobb.org before Nov 3, to review the proposed service changes and take a short survey to share your thoughts.

For the past year, Cobb Department of Transportation staff has been creating a short-term transit plan, called CobbLinc Forward, to help CobbLinc meet future transportation needs for residents, workers and business owners. These proposed updates would be implemented over a five-year horizon, but may start as early as March 2.

The recommendations in the CobbLinc Forward plan would:

• Provide Sunday service on all local bus routes
• Provide better service to more customers
• Provide major improvements to system reliability and on-time performance
• Better match service levels with transit markets

To view a summary of what's new and what's changing in the proposed updates, click here. The Board of Commissioners will host a public hearing 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 23, so residents can provide their input on proposed service changes. The meeting will be held in the BOC Room, second floor, 100 Cherokee St., Marietta.