Gov. Rick Perry coming and more news you can use

On the heels of Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney visiting Smyrna in June, GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry arrives in our Patch Friday to speak at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s “Wisdom, Justice and Innovation” legislative conference at the .

Also keynoting the event is Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus. Perry, who accepted the GPPF’s invitation several weeks before entering the presidential race, is expected to speak on the topic “Taxes, Torts and Texas: The Key Policies Supporting the Growing Texas Economy.”

Smyrna-Vinings Patch will provide live coverage on Friday morning.

Thursday from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the Smyrna Business Association is conducting its Alive After Five networking event at located at 3300 Cumberland Boulevard. The event is free and for more info, call 770-432-4444 or email aaf@smyrnabusiness.org.

Smyrna-based Travel Spike, LLC filed a lawsuit last week against direct competitor Travel Ad Network, Inc. (TAN). Travel Spike, located at 3300 Highlands Parkway, alleges that TAN unlawfully uses Travel Spike's Travel Ad Network trademark as the name of its company, service and website address. 

Trademark infringement is at the core of Travel Spike's request that the Court order TAN to stop using Travel Spike's Travel Ad Network mark. Travel Spike's claim goes much further, however, listing seven more counts and identifying malicious and fraudulent activity by TAN's founders and executives. Travel Spike, LLC was established in 2001.

"We took this action because TAN refused to seriously compensate Travel Spike for past, present and future damages," said Howard Koval, EVP and Chief Strategist for Travel Spike. "While TAN's attorneys have relayed statements about a desire for an amicable settlement, their actions say something else. We are still open to constructive negotiation, but demand respect and will not be bullied by unethical practices."

In a unanimous vote on Wednesday, the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority’s board, which includes Smyrna Mayor Max Bacon, granted a $1,500 bonus to each of its 116 full-time employees. The board also approved a $700,000 proposal to provide cosmetic renovations to the Cobb Galleria Centre ballroom.

Finally, Glock Inc.'s former general counsel, Paul F. Jannuzzo, is set to go on trial next month in Cobb County Superior Court on charges related to allegations that he misappropriated millions of dollars from the international firearms maker.

Glock, which manufactures semi-automatic, polymer handguns, and supplies firearms to the majority of law enforcement agencies in the U.S., has its U.S. headquarters in Smyrna at 6000 Highland Parkway.

It is quite an interesting read on how the former Vinings resident Jannuzzo, considered “the face of the American gun industry in the late 1990s and the early years of the 21st century,’’ arrived at the point of where if convicted on all counts, could face up to 20 years in prison.