SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2026 · Issue No. 66 · 14 min read
Crabapple Fest stayed dry. Register to vote by Monday
Ask the House District 47 candidates your question by Tuesday at 5 p.m. Plus Milton 60, Lanier 21.
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In this issue Crabapple Fest. Photos from Saturday, why the city ended it half an hour early, and how 37 of you answered our rain poll. Your vote. Register to vote by Monday, Oct. 5. And send us your question for the two House District 47 candidates by Tuesday at 5 p.m.; we will print any answers they send on Oct. 13. And. Milton 60, Lanier 21; the Milton Library is closed all week; the city’s statement on its camera review, in full, and what Ryan would ask the review to settle; Taco Nest’s new score; Monday’s tax-rate vote, moved to Oct. 19; and police want trunks for Trunk or Treat. |
Top of Mind
the one thing to know this morning
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Crabapple Road a little after 2 p.m. Saturday. Photos: Ryan Hall for The Roundabout. |
The rain held off Saturday, and the crowds came. Crabapple Fest filled Crabapple Road with vendor tents, food trucks and, for the first time, a music stage. The city closed the fest at 4:30 p.m., half an hour ahead of the 5 o’clock finish on its schedule, because of uncertainty about the weather on the way.
Today, the weather service gives an 85 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, with a high of 74.
Thursday we asked whether rain in the forecast would keep you home from Crabapple Fest. Of the 37 of you who tapped an answer, the biggest group, 13, planned to go only if it stayed dry. It did.
Rain is in Saturday’s forecast. Still going to Crabapple Fest? | ||||
Only if it stays dry
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Yes, rain or shine
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We weren’t going anyway
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No, not this year
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37 readers, one tap each. It isn’t a scientific poll, just the readers who tapped. |
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The fest’s first music stage, Saturday afternoon. |
Reader poll · One tap What was your favorite part of Crabapple Fest? Stayed an hour or all afternoon? Pick the part you liked best.
Tap once and you’ll see how everyone else voted. Results Tuesday. |
Your fest photos. Got a good one from Saturday? Reply with it attached and the name you’d like credited. We’ll run the best ones Tuesday with the poll results. Send only photos you took, and no close-ups of other people’s kids. Sending one means you’re OK with us printing it.
Your Vote
Register by Monday. Monday, Oct. 5, is the registration deadline for the Nov. 3 general election, and you can register online through the state. Think you’re already registered? The city’s advice is to confirm it before the deadline, just in case, on the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
The dates. Voting by mail? Your absentee application must be received by Oct. 23. Early voting runs Oct. 13 to 30, including Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24, at any of 32 Fulton County sites; the Milton Library on Mayfield Road is one. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Besides federal, state and county races, the ballot has two sales-tax questions, one for transportation and one for schools, plus three proposed amendments to the state constitution, and My Voter Page will show your sample ballot. The state’s election page has the rest, and our updated Milton voter guide lists every race on Milton ballots.
Ask the House District 47 candidates. House District 47, which covers 11 of Milton’s 13 voting precincts (My Voter Page shows your district), has an open seat: Rep. Jan Jones is not on the ballot. Democrat Lindsay DeFranco and Republican Jack Miller are running to replace her. Before the June runoff, we asked the two Republican candidates the same five questions and printed their answers word for word. This time we want your questions. Here is how it works:
- →By Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 5 p.m., reply to this email with the one question you’d ask, or use the form on our House District 47 guide.
- →We pick five of your questions and will invite each candidate to add one. We will ask both candidates to answer all of them.
- →Wednesday, Oct. 7, both candidates get the same questions at the same time. Answers are due Monday, Oct. 12, at noon.
- →Tuesday, Oct. 13, the morning early voting opens, every answer we receive runs word for word, side by side, here and on our guide. A candidate who doesn’t answer by the deadline is listed as “Did not respond.”
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The Scoreboard
every game, both schools, the night it finishes
Friday night · final scores | ||||||
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Records from our results. Rankings: MaxPreps, Oct. 3. | ||||||
Friday night. Milton beat Lanier 60-21 at home after leading 38-14 at the half, according to MaxPreps. The Eagles are 5-1 and ranked No. 3 in Class 6A by MaxPreps. They’re off this Friday, then host Alpharetta on Oct. 16. Cambridge beat Sprayberry 38-27 at home to even its record at 3-3 and plays at Marist on Friday at 7:30.
A state record. Milton senior Caroline Marshall set the Georgia High School Association’s record for career receiving yards in flag football on Sept. 28, Appen Media reported. Appen’s Oct. 2 story counted 4,425 career yards for her, and her senior season has more than two months to go.
Since Thursday’s issue. Volleyball: Milton beat Chamblee 3-1 at home, and Cambridge lost 3-1 at King’s Ridge Christian. Softball: Milton beat Riverwood 2-0 at home, and Cambridge won 4-0 at St. Pius X.
Home this week. Tuesday: Milton softball hosts Roswell at 5:30, and Cambridge volleyball hosts Centennial at 6. Wednesday: Cambridge softball hosts Pope at 5:30, and Cambridge’s flag football team hosts Forsyth Central at 6. Every schedule and score →
Correction
what we got wrong, and what replaces it
Thursday’s issue said Cambridge softball would host St. Pius X that night. The game was at St. Pius X, and Cambridge won 4-0. Every correction we have run is on our corrections page.
Follow-Ups
Taco Nest scores a 100. Taco Nest Taqueria on Highway 9, which scored 72 out of 100 on Sept. 16, scored 100 on its next county inspection, on Oct. 2, according to the county’s report. Every Milton restaurant’s latest score is in our dining directory.
The Arnold Mill Road crash. Thursday we said we had requested Milton police records from the deadly Sept. 26 wreck on the Little River bridge. The city says it found no records matching our request. The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office worked the crash, and its reports are the ones we cited Thursday.
The Agenda
public meetings this week and next
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Monday · tomorrow The tax-rate vote moves to Oct. 19. |
Monday’s 6 p.m. Council meeting at City Hall goes ahead, but the property tax vote Thursday’s issue told you about is off the agenda. The city’s agenda, updated Friday, lists the vote as canceled and says the city will publish a new public notice for a vote at the Oct. 19 meeting. Saved Monday’s tax vote to your calendar from one of our earlier issues? The button below has the new date.
Still on Monday’s agenda: a hearing on the request from Smash by Vice, a restaurant, for an alcohol license at 3100 Heritage Walk; an update on the Thompson Road bridge; a discussion of the working draft of the five-year update to the city’s long-range comprehensive plan; changes to the development code tied to the Milton Trails Blueprint; a conservation easement for Birmingham Park with the Georgia-Alabama Land Trust, which would limit future development there; and a resolution adding an eighth seat to the Development Authority, the city’s economic development board, and appointing Brandon Cox to it. Four subdivision plats, maps that divide land into lots, are on the consent agenda, the items Council approves in one vote.
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- →Mon, Oct 5 · 6:00 PM: City Council Regular Meeting · City Hall (agenda)
- →Tue, Oct 6 · 6:00 PM: Design Review Board Meeting · City Hall
- →Wed, Oct 7 · 4:30 PM: Development Authority: a tour of Deerfield properties, then a 5:30 meeting at City Hall (agenda)
- →Thu, Oct 8 · 6:00 PM: Greenprint Steering Group Meeting · City Hall, Milton Room
- →Mon, Oct 12 · 6:00 PM: City Council Work Session · City Hall
Camera Review
Milton police use license plate cameras from the company Flock, which photograph the plates of passing cars, and the city keeps that data for a year. We have been asking the city how the program works. Thursday’s issue said the police department’s answers to the written questions we sent Sept. 26 were due Friday, and that we would print them.
On Friday, City Manager Steve Krokoff wrote to our publisher, Ryan Hall, that the scope of our questions had grown “beyond the original questions into additional operational, personnel, and legal matters,” needing more work than staff “can sustain alongside their other responsibilities.” He said Milton is reviewing its license plate reader (LPR) practices and will share any decisions when they are made, and that our requests for public records will continue through the city’s process. For the eight records requests we filed Sept. 26, the city has told us records will come by Oct. 15, with any cost or extra time to be set then.
We told the city we would publish its statement in full. Here it is.
The city’s statement, in full Mr. Hall, First, a sincere thank you for your engagement on this challenging issue. These are questions that matter to all of us who live and work in Milton. We want our families and neighbors to be safe, and we also want to know that information about our lives is being handled responsibly. Law enforcement agencies across the country are working through how to meet both expectations, and Milton is no different. License plate readers, when deployed as part of a formal, documented police investigation and response, have helped save lives and solve crimes, helped the police find missing children and vulnerable adults, located people in danger, and identified suspects in violent crimes. In my conversations with fellow residents, I hear support for those benefits, along with reasonable questions about how the information is accessed, retained, and shared. Reports of officers misusing these systems make those questions especially important. Any use for private purposes is unacceptable and damages public trust. The technology’s value does not lessen our obligation to establish clear limits, provide documented oversight, and hold people accountable. Those responsibilities are central to our review of Milton’s LPR practices. We also have the benefit of research being conducted by organizations such as the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police regarding access, oversight, and transparency. Their work will provide useful guidance to consider alongside our operational experience and residents’ concerns. Body cameras offer a useful example. Questions about recording, victims’ privacy, retention, and access led to clearer state law and local policies informed by research, experience, and guidance from those same organizations. Compliance audits and continued policy improvements have helped strengthen those practices over time. That same approach can help improve LPR safeguards while preserving the technology’s value. Staff have devoted considerable time to your inquiries over the past several weeks. Answers to individual questions have frequently led to several related questions, with those responses opening further lines of inquiry. The scope has grown substantially, extending beyond the original questions into additional operational, personnel, and legal matters. We understand that follow-up questions are part of reporting, and we appreciate your continued efforts to include the City’s perspective. The expanding scope now requires more research, coordination, and legal review than staff can sustain alongside their other responsibilities. We recognize that you have publication deadlines and may need to proceed with the information already available. We understand that and appreciate the opportunities you have given us to contribute. We will share any decisions resulting from our review when they are made. Your pending records requests will continue through the open records process, and Greg will remain your point of contact for reporting inquiries. I hope you can understand and appreciate the City’s position and will receive this response in the spirit with which it is intended. Best, |
Greg is Greg Botelho, the city’s communications director.
The question to Flock. Flock, the camera company, has not replied to our Sept. 28 questions, including whether it required, and got, approval from an elected official or governing body before switching Milton to a year of storage. Our camera map shows the 55 plate cameras pinned inside the city limits.
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Tap the map to see the cameras we’ve pinned. |
Milton Voices
Opinion: Ryan Hall, publisher, on the city’s camera review
On Friday, City Manager Steve Krokoff wrote to me that Milton is reviewing how its police department uses license plate readers, and that the city will share what it decides.
He made the case for the cameras, too, and wrote that any use for private purposes is unacceptable. His full statement is above.
The city says its review will draw on research from national police groups. Here is what I’d ask it to settle. Each comes from our reporting, and none asks the city to switch off a camera:
Let the Council decide how long data is kept. Milton keeps plate data for a year. Roswell says it deletes plate photos after 14 days; Alpharetta and Johns Creek keep data 30 days. Flock’s own policy now sets a seven-day default and won’t keep data longer, up to a year, without an elected official’s or governing body’s approval. A Council vote in public is the clearest way to give it.
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Publish the policy. Georgia law already requires every department that uses plate readers to maintain policies for how they are used. Roswell posts its policy online, and Alpharetta and Johns Creek post transparency pages.
Report once a year. The chiefs’ association the city cited calls for a documented reason on every search and for routine audits. A yearly report to Council, with how many searches ran, how many were audited and what the audits found, would put those numbers in front of residents. On Oct. 15 we’ll report how often Milton’s searches have carried a case number.
Put renewals on the agenda. Milton’s two Flock agreements renew automatically every Jan. 1 unless the city gives notice, the police department told us. For the service agreement, that notice is due by Dec. 1.
Say who reviews the two matters. In September the department told us it is investigating two matters of possible misuse of the system itself. Residents should know when they are resolved, and whether anyone outside the department has reviewed them.
What would you want the review to answer? Reply to this email. We’ll send the best ones to the city for its review and print them here.
Ryan
Lend a Hand
Trunks wanted. Milton police have their own cars covered for the department’s annual Trunk or Treat, and now they want businesses and nonprofits to bring more trunks. Decorate one, stock up on candy and hand it out at Carvin’ in Crabapple, Saturday, Oct. 24, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Broadwell Pavilion. No elaborate theme or costume is required. To claim a spot, email Officer Scott Sanford at scott.sanford@miltonga.gov. The department’s advice: “Don’t underestimate how much candy kids can carry!”
Carvin’ in Crabapple itself is a pumpkin-carving night. Bring your own pumpkin, and the city supplies the carving and painting tools.
Rivers Alive. The city needs volunteers Sunday, Oct. 18, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Providence Park, to clear trash and debris from the Providence Lake shoreline and the park’s stream banks. The city brings gloves and trash bags, and volunteers under 16 need an adult on site and a signed waiver. It is Milton’s part of Rivers Alive, the state’s yearly waterway cleanup. Sign up here.
This Week in Milton
the calendar, day by day
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The week ahead. Storms likely today and tonight, and a 35 percent chance of showers Monday. Then a dry stretch: sunny Tuesday through Thursday, highs from 75 to 81 and lows near 51.
The library is closed. The Milton Library on Mayfield Road is closed all week because of a facilities maintenance issue, the Fulton County Library System said on Facebook. It closes Monday, Oct. 5, and reopens Monday, Oct. 12. Its programs this week are canceled: the Friends book sale moves to Saturday, Oct. 17, and the AI and data centers talk to Nov. 16. The library system lists nearby branches, including Alpharetta and East Roswell.
Worth circling. Toddler Tuesday moves to Broadwell Pavilion this week and stays there, mornings only, through at least December. Tuesday brings a free Music Together demo class with Ms. Meghan at 9:30 or 10:30 a.m. (pick one), then mini-pumpkin decorating and time on the playground, and the city asks you to register. For older kids, Art with Rani, a realistic drawing and shading class for ages 9 to 16, starts Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Community Place in City Hall, and its October session meets four Tuesdays. Sign up on the city’s registration page, under Teen/Adult Programs.
Sunday, October 4
- →3:00 PM · Live Music at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)
- →4:00 PM · Blessing of the Animals · Birmingham United Methodist Church
Tuesday, October 6
- →9:30 AM · Toddler Tuesdays: Music Together · Broadwell Pavilion (free)
- →11:00 AM · National Taco Day at Hyde Brewing · Hyde Brewing
- →5:00 PM · Art with Rani: realistic drawing (ages 9 to 16) · Community Place, Milton City Hall
Friday, October 9
- →6:00 PM · Live Music at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)
Saturday, October 10
- →6:00 PM · Live Music at Six Bridges · Six Bridges Crabapple (free)
- →7:30 PM · Mozart in Milton: Music Milton opens its second season · Birmingham United Methodist Church
