By Rich Lamance
Special to The Citizen

For most college students taking the summer off between their sophomore and junior years, life is usually filled with a summer job, time at the beach or a little extra time in front of their favorite video game.

Peachtree City may soon make minor changes to its open space zoning category.

The move would split open space zoning into two categories: one for nature areas and other undeveloped conservation-type lands. The other would be for city-owned parcels such as the City Hall and Library complex.

Peachtree City planners have signed off on a local industry’s expansion plan.

The 12,000 square foot office/warehouse building will be added to the Wilden Plastics campus on Ga. Highway 74 south. The conceptual plan was approved by the Planning Commission Monday night.

In the span of roughly three hours, two women have had personal items taken from them at stores at the Fayette Pavilion this afternoon.

Peachtree City resident R. Clay Harris was found guilty in federal court Thursday on charges of bribery and conspiring to bribe a former Atlanta Public School (APS) official.

Nature just got a lot more interesting, especially for anyone interested in spending a leisurely amount of time along the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The approval and bond sale of the 3,000-acre Chattahoochee Bend State Park in western Coweta County on property bordering Carroll and Heard counties was announced July 28 at the Coweta County Commission chambers at a meeting of Chattahoochee-Flint Regional Development Center.

An investigation into the robbery of Southern Community Bank in Newnan by two men late Tuesday morning is ongoing. Coweta Sheriff’s investigators said no weapons were used and no one was injured. Some aspects of the robbery show a familiarity to a July 21 attempted robbery in east Coweta and a July 23 robbery in Griffin.

Coweta County students go back to school for the 2008-09 school year on Wednesday, August 6. Parents and students can visit schools on the day before school starts, Tuesday August 5, from 10 a.m. to noon (all middle schools) and noon to 2 p.m. (all elementary schools).

The Georgia Department of Education released an initial list of Coweta County schools which successfully met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements under the No Child Left Behind act in the 2007-08 school year.

The Fayetteville Police Department is warning residents about a credit scam advertisement that claims to help people resolve credit problems and bankruptcy.

Pipe stolen from school construction site found at Fayetteville business

The owner of Sweet Returns Recycling in downtown Fayetteville has been arrested by sheriff’s deputies for failing to keep records on customers who sold more than four and a half tons of metal to his business, according to warrants for his arrest.

From the first published yearbook of the old Fayette County Training School, faces from 1964 peer across the years. Opened in 1955 — a year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling outlawing racial segregation in public schools — to educate black children on one campus, what is now East Fayette Elementary School sent its last students out the doors this past May.

The other shoe may be dropping: Pass the 1-cent education sales tax in November or face big cuts in the Fayette County School System.

With parents scrambling to get their students ready to head back to school, the state of Georgia is doing its annual part to help consumers save money.

When Lt. Col. Martin Rowe of Peachtree City got to Baghdad several months ago, he assumed command of forensic crime labs that are helping to identify enemy combatants.

The labs are a relatively new wrinkle in the Global War on Terror, using fingerprints, DNA and other evidence to identify enemies who attack coalition forces, Rowe explained.

Fayette voters can head to the polls all this week to vote in the Republican and Democratic runoffs to determine the winner of two local races and one statewide race.

After years of legal battles, the Fayette County Commission settled a lawsuit Thursday night to allow two billboards to be erected in the county.

It does not get any better than this. All of Fayette County 28 public schools met the federally-required Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standard for 2008. Fayette was one of 34 school systems in Georgia where every school in the system met the standard.

It has been 10 months since the Fairburn City Council approved the idea of constructing a college campus in the city’s downtown area.

The Fayette County Chamber will provide an opportunity for local businesses to showcase their products and services to the community at the “Find it in Fayette” Community Expo coming in September. Why fight Atlanta traffic when we can “Find it in Fayette?” Fayette businesses provide a wide variety of goods and services, and the Expo will spotlight what is available right here in our backyard.

The Fayetteville police and fire departments will join the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office in hosting a “National Night Out” back to school event at the Target store in the Fayette Pavilion from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday night.

Victim calls 911, unable to leave home

Fayetteville police are investigating a case in which a woman was reportedly locked in a home on south Jeff Davis Drive for several hours at a time last week.

The following arrests were reported by local law enforcement agencies for the past week. All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty:

Fayette County Public Schools is seeking input from parents and the community regarding the 2009-2010 school calendar.

Fayette voters can head to the polls all this week to vote in the Republican and Democratic runoffs to determine the winner of two local races and one statewide race.

It is not exactly the Dean’s List. It is better. Fayette County public schools are one of 34 school systems in Georgia with 100 percent of its schools making the federally-required Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

Malin Roghelia, left, and Amy Luenberger were recently honored by the Rotary Club of Peachtree City as their ‘07-’08 “Rookie Rotarian” and “Rotarian of the Year” recipients. They were selected for exemplifying strong commitment and loyalty to Rotary’s motto, “Service Above Self,” in all their good works for the community. Photo/Special.

Could Peachtree City start up a local bus service?

Representatives of the city’s Senior Adult Council are suggesting just that in making a presentation to the city’s Recreation Commission Monday night.

Police: no foul play suspected

A woman who fell down stairs after a domestic dispute with her son Saturday afternoon has died from her injuries, Peachtree City police said.

Neighbors argued Monday that instead of closing the Clover Reach Pool, Peachtree City should upgrade it to attract more users.

The potential closing of the pool was the topic of a public hearing held by the city’s Recreation Commission.