A stray tabby gives birth to a litter of three kittens under the lilac bush in a backyard. As she nurses them, she purrs; as they suckle, the kittens purr, too. When the queen shifts her weight to try to find a more comfortable nursing position, one of the kittens lets out a distress call, indicating he’s trapped under his mother’s weight. She readjusts herself, and the purring party continues.

One morning, the mother cat decides to move her litter to a safer spot. She deposits the first one inside the garden shed, and goes to retrieve the next one. Detecting the absence of his mother via his sense of smell, the kitten in the shed lets out a loud distress call, distinctly meant to reunite mothers and wayward kittens.

As the kittens mature, the queen spends more time away from the nest, hunting for prey to ensure enough milk for her growing crew. Each time she returns, she gives out a “brrp” to her kittens.

When the kittens enter the weaning stage, the queen brings prey home to them, calling them over to it with a chirp. The kittens also begin to make chirping noises in anticipation for what they are about to receive. However, one night’s dinner is interrupted when Mom lets out a long, low-pitched growl. The kittens scatter and retreat to safety inside the shed before the owl overhead can snatch one for his own evening meal.

As independent hunters, cats have limited need for an extensive vocal repertory. Cat-to-cat vocalizations are generally limited to communicating with one’s kittens, one’s sexual partners and one’s potential enemies. There is also an array of vocalizations used by our furry friends when they attempt to communicate with us.

By changing volume, intensity and number of repetitions of the vocalizations and backing them up with expressive body language and olfactory signaling, cats ensure their messages are received and that their needs are met.

Purring 101

The purr is the most common sound issued by cats—and yet one of the least understood. Kittens just a few hours old begin purring as they knead their mother’s chest and nurse. The purr sound is made both on the inhale and the exhale, with an instantaneous break between breaths. Built-up pressure created by the opening and closing of the glottis results in a sudden separation of the vocal folds, creating the purr. While purring is often heard when the cat seems content, those familiar with handling cats in pain or near death know that they also purr when under duress, the reason for which is yet unknown.

The Meaning of Meow

The second most common vocalization is the meow. Rarely heard between cats, this vocalization seems tailor-made for communication between cats and humans. Early on, cats notice that meowing brings attention, contact, food and play from their human companions. Some behaviorists suggest that certain cats seem to alter their meows to suit different purposes, and that some guardians can differentiate between, say, the “I’m Hungry!” meow” from the “Let Me Out!” meow.

The meow is the most often used of the vowel patterns—vocalizations produced with the mouth first open and then gradually closing.
- The sound cats make when highly aroused by the sight of prey is called chirping.
- When a cat is frustrated (such as when an indoor cat finds he is unable to get to the birds at the feeder), you may hear him chatter.
- When a neonate kitten is cold, isolated from his mother or trapped, he issues a distress call—also sometimes called an anger wail. As the kitten matures, the distress call is used when play is too rough or the cat finds something else to protest.

A Hiss Is Just a Hiss?

All threat vocalizations are produced with the mouth held open. These sounds mirror the cat’s intense emotional state. A hiss is uttered when a cat is surprised by an enemy. A high-pitched shriek or scream is expressed when the cat is in pain or fearful and aggressive. Snarling is often heard when two toms are in the midst of a fight over territory or female attention. And a long, low-pitched growl warns of danger.

(Source: http://www.aspca.org. Written by Jacque Lynn Schultz, C.P.D.T., Companion Animal Programs Adviser, ASPCA National Shelter Outreach.)

What do you think your cat is trying to say? Click “Chime In” to comment on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you!

 Shallowford Free Will Baptist Church is located at 1686 Shallowford Road. For more information please call 770-926-1163.

 Shallowford Free Will Baptist Church is located at 1686 Shallowford Road.

For more information please call 770-926-1163.

Six Flags White Water will kick off the summer season when it opens its gates for the 2012 season Saturday. In the hours leading up to opening, the park will play host to the U.S. Army Reserve for a water-rescue training mission in the Atlanta Ocean Wave Pool. The 982nd Combat Camera Company of the United States Army Reserve will utilize the park’s wave pool, the Atlanta Ocean, as its location to conduct Combat Water Survival Training to help the combat parachutists survivability during water landings. Soldiers will be submerged in full gear to simulate combat-like situations as close as possible. The training will take place from 6:30 to 10 am at the park.

Six Flags White Water will introduce Dive-In Movies in 2012, a summertime event for families to relax at the Atlanta Ocean wave pool and catch the latest flicks on a giant screen. Dive-In Movies will take place each Thursday evening from June 7 through July 26.

The park’s operating hours during opening weekend will be 10 am to 6 pm. The park is open daily from May 26 through Aug. 12. For more information, visit sixflags.com/whitewater.

(Reprinted from the MDJ, May 16, 2012.)

Have you been to White Water lately? What’s your favorite attraction? Click “Chime In” to comment on our Facebook page. We’d love to hear from you!

Beth Sessoms the city’s economic development director, said the signs will encourage drivers to pull off and visit downtown.

Two 8-foot by 17-foot signs will be installed on I-75, one on the northbound side and one on the south, and tow smaller 4 foot by 9-1/2 foot signs will be installed at each exit ramp, directing drivers which way to turn.

The Downtown Marietta Development Authority approved the $7,751 cost of the four signs during its Thursday meeting.

“This is taxpayer money well spent,” DMDA member Johnny Fulmer said.

Sessoms said pending Georgia Department of Transportation approval, the signs should be up within a month’s time.

Ala-Teens 12 and older are also welcome. For more information call Paulette Leibowitz 770-642-8147 at or 678-787-8589. Temple Kol Emeth is located at 1415 Old Canton Road in East Cobb.

Students at High Meadows School in Roswell recently celebrated Earth Day. All photos courtesy of Kelle Mac Photography.

Congrats Grads!

It’s that time of year again, when East Cobb neighborhoods share their pride as young residents make their way in the world.

Does your neighborhood have a “Congrats Grads” sign posted? Email a pic to photoblog@eastcobber.com or post on our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/EASTCOBBER.

The 2012 Leadership Cobb class will present “Summer of Blue Skies Music Festival,” benefiting Blue Skies Ministries. The event will be held on Friday, May 18 at the Mable House Amphitheatre from 7-10:30pm.

The music festival will include entertainment from Bellwether Station, Paradocs and PRIME.  Proceeds from the event will benefit Blue Skies Ministries: “Lifting families above the clouds of childhood cancer.”

Blue Skies offers retreats to help families living through the challenges of pediatric cancer to heal and find hope where they play, laugh, and reconnect as a family.  The 2012 Leadership Cobb class plans to raise $50,000 through this event to help support and fund the efforts of Blue Skies Ministries.

Platinum sponsors for this event include The Home Depot, Kaiser Permanente, Velociteach, Wells Fargo and WellStar. Cobb EMC is a gold sponsor. Silver sponsors include Ed Voyles Automotive Group, Five Point Partners, The Chancellor Group, Thompson Technologies and Christos Pizza.

General admission tickets are on sale for $35 plus the ticketmaster fee at www.summerofblueskies.com.

Dr. Michael Hinojosa, Cobb County Schools Superintendent, in an undated photo

Cobb Superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa said that while his staff has tried not to cut teaching positions and increase furlough days and class sizes to offset a projected $62 million deficit the 2013 budget, he concedes that it is “best recommendation” at this time.

“We’ve looked at so many options, and we’ve tried to incorporate where we could but this is the best recommendation under the very difficult circumstances that we have,” he said Tuesday.

During Thursday night’s meeting, the board will consider approving the FY13 budget, authorization for Hinojosa to proceed with fundraising for Teach For America for FY14, a $75,000 contract with Educations Planners, LLC of Marietta to help the district create a SPLOST IV notebook of projects, and awarding a $699,000 contract to Northside Psychological services for mental health services, which will be paid for with grant funds.

According to Mike Addison, the district’s chief financial officer, the budget has not changed and he is recommending exactly what he has been recommending since January.

For FY13, Addison has determined that there will be approximately $820.8 million in revenue collected and about $841.9 million in expenditures.

Addison is recommending the board approve cutting 350 jobs; increasing class sizes by two students and the number of furlough days from two to five; reducing the number of work days from 180 to 175; delaying raises for half a year; eliminating 50 library positions; reducing, and eventually eliminating, funding for Project 2400; and taking $21.5 million from reserves.

He said he hoped none of the school board members would request any of the suggested alternates from last week, which include reducing the furlough and instructional days from five to three and keep elementary level media parapros, but he wouldn’t be surprised.

“I would be surprised if someone didn’t at least suggest it,” he said Tuesday.

If board members amended his recommendation and approved the alternatives it could add even more to the already $62 million deficit, $7.1 million in all to be exact. Funding for those alternatives would come from the reserves, which currently stands at $99 million but would drop to almost $71 million.

“I don’t think that we need to use anymore fund balance reserves than we are,” he said. “If we use more than that, I feel like we’re cutting too deep into our safety net. I certainly don’t want to make those cuts either but you have to do what you have to do.”

In other action, Hinojosa will also be seeking permission from the board to approve his planned fundraising for a Teach For America contract in FY14.

“I’m asking them to give me permission to go out and start raising money,” he said. “I have a majority who said it’s OK and if we get the money raised, then we’ll come back with the contract in August maybe.”

In his request for authorization, Hinojosa has outlined parameters of the fundraising which includes not hiring more than 25 Teach For America teachers, adding no additional cost to the General Fund, that current Cobb teachers won’t be displaced due to these hirings and that principals at designated campuses will have the purview to hire these individuals.

Hinojosa anticipates raising approximately $200,000 this time, as opposed to the nearly $400,000 he was going to have to raise when he brought Teach For America before the board in January.

When asked whom he would be talking to about donating funds, he said he hasn’t made any moves.

“I’ve decided to just chill out and wait for authorization,” he said. “I don’t want to create a firestorm … there are some people who have expressed a desire in the past though.”

Initially, Hinojosa has said that he doesn’t plan on pursuing any Cobb companies in asking for funds but will go through Teach For America and touch base with any companies or individuals who are known for donating to the organization in the metro Atlanta already.

He also said that he wouldn’t pursue fundraising efforts, if approved by the board Thursday, until after graduation ceremonies next week.

“Hopefully things will slow down in the summer,” he said. “There’s not an urgency. I’m going to get this year closed out first.”

Lastly, Hinojosa was asked why funding for the Model School Conference scheduled for late June in Orlando, about $300,000, couldn’t be used to pay for the Teach For America training costs.

“That money that we’re using (for the conference) is either coke machine money, foundation money or professional development money,” he said.

The company, which is located in Marietta, has an 18-member team, and their contract will run between May 18 and April 30, 2013, if approved Thursday night by the board.

Chris Ragsdale, deputy superintendent of operations, said the group would be available for assistance through the referendum vote, which the district has scheduled for March 2013.

Additionally, Ragsdale told the Facilities and Technology Committee on Monday that Education Planners would not be facilitating the program management of the project, nor do they have the option to.

“It was actually in the RFP as a condition that whoever the winning proposal was … they would in no way shape or form, be allowed to program manage any projects in Ed-SPLOST IV,” Ragsdale said.

According to district spokesperson Jay Dillon, details of the RFP application cannot be made public until after the board has voted on by the board.

Ragsdale said on Tuesday that the district will also have no need to out-source or bid out the program management of SPLOST IV and that it will be maintained by the district’s SPLOST staff, like SPLOST III is currently being managed.

“We like the way we have it,” Hinojosa said about the district’s SPLOST department handling program management. “I don’t plan to change it but if SPLOST passes, we’ll need to staff (Shepard’s) old position but we won’t know that until the vote.”

The school board approved bringing the program in-house in December 2009. That is when they hired SPLOST Administrator Doug Shepard who resigned in early March. The acting executive director is Glen Brown, who added the role his current job as director of SPLOST program management and accountability.

If voters approve the 1 percent sales tax next March for a fourth SPLOST, Ragsdale said the district estimates they will collect approximately $600 million between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2018. The funds collected are similar to what is expected to be collected with SPLOST III, which began on Jan. 1, 2009, and will run through Dec. 31, 2013.

The grant is contingent upon the district’s approval of a no-cost extension request that was submitted to the U.S. Department of Education, which is expected to be returned sometime in May.

The vacancies, all made through the following retirements, will be filled at McClure Middle, Susan Wing; Pickett’s Mill Elementary, Sheila Chesser; Russell Elementary, Ann H. DiPetrillo; Bryant Elementary, Dr. Patrice Moore; Bullard Elementary, Sharon J. Hardin; Big Shanty Elementary, Lynne C. Hutnik; Kennesaw Elementary, Wanda Floyd; Powder Springs Elementary, Darlene Mitchell; Lovinggood Middle, Elizabeth W. Wilson; and Hollydale Elementary, Lynn McWhorter.

The names of these principal’s replacements have not been released by the district and will not be until after the board approves them, Hinojosa said.

“We don’t even have the names yet,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing this afternoon. We still have the research to do.”

There will also be a vacancy at Hightower Trail Middle, where Hilda Wilkins is currently the principal, but a replacement has not been named; and the principal at Sky View Elementary, which is closing at the end of this school year, Cynthia Cutler, is also retiring.

The board meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the boardroom at 514 Glover St. in Marietta. Public comments will take place the first 30 minutes of the meeting.

(Reprinted from the MDJ, May 16, 2012. Written by Lindsay Field.)