In December, Boy Scout Troop 211 participated in Polaris Winter Camp 2009. The boys spent four days camping in the cold at Lawhorn Scouting Base where they had a great time. The scouts activities at camp included: Archery, Rifle and Shotgun Shooting, Golf, Weather Forecasting, Emergency Preparedness, Indian Lore, Rock Climbing, Motor Boating, Mountain Biking, “Southern Snowboarding”, and a Polar Bear Swim.

Credit card skimming has been described as one of the most significant problems facing the credit card industry, as it can happen anywhere a credit card is accepted. According to special agents of the U.S. Secret Service’s Atlanta Field Office, the best way for consumers to protect themselves from skimming is by paying attention to the details of credit card usage.

Justin L. Bryant, son of Rev. and Mrs. Larry Bryant, Sr., a Junior at Morehouse College will be the keynote speaker at the annual Rev. Dr. M.L. King, Jr. Commemorative Program. Bryant, also president of the NAACP Morehouse College Branch is enrolled in the Morehouse College Honors Program. He is a member of the Golden Key Honor Society and on the Dean’s List. A UPS Community Service Scholar, Bryant earned this honor by volunteering 300 community service hours at a local Atlanta elementary school.

Photo Courtesy of The American Red Cross

UPDATED (Saturday evening) with March of Dimes information

As locals begin efforts to help Haiti residents recover from the recent earthquake, The Citizen wants to publicize as many of these works as possible as a free service to the community.

If your church, civic group, business or organization is embarking on such an endeavor, please send us an email at editor@TheCitizen.com. Please include details about the mission, including how/where/when others can help.

Newnan resident Juan Campos-Reyes was sentenced in federal court Jan. 11 to 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges relating to his part in a multi-state cocaine trafficking organization based in Mexico. A Riverdale man and another from Lawrenceville were also sentenced.

The Georgia Department of Labor’s Columbus Career Center will help Mobis, a manufacturing facility located in West Point, fill about 250 second-shift production jobs. Mobis is a Kia supplier.

The Newnan Cultural Arts Commission (NCAC) has announced the date of the 18th Annual Wadsworth & Friends Concert set for Saturday, March 6 at 7:30 pm at Newnan’s Wadsworth Auditorium. The planned concert will be the 18th concert hosted by native son Charles Wadsworth who was first featured here in 1993 and, before and since, gained worldwide acclaim for his talents and hosting skills. Last year’s virtual sellout Wadsworth & Friends Concert celebrated the home town piano artist’s 80th  birthday at which he announced his retirement from the international circuit of concerts and programs at which he has been featured during his long and much heralded career.

Palmetto Fire Chief Henry Argo began his efforts as fire chief in Palmetto in early 2007 after 30 years of experience. This week it was announced by Mayor John Miller that Argo has been re-designated as Chief Fire Officer by the international Commission on Professional Credentialing (CPC). Argo is one of only 663 designated chief fire officers worldwide.

State Sen. Mitch Seabaugh (R-Sharpsburg) is introducing a bill in the 2010 General Assembly that he says will clarify and simplify current weapons law and uphold the right to bear arms. The Georgia Common Sense Lawful Carry Act is meant to amend current Georgia law.

UPDATE: Defense attorney said pair had strong case but didn't want to risk outcome of jury trial; Attorney says only mention of sex came from undercover officers

Two former Whitewater High School teachers who were arrested in May during an undercover prostitution sting entered guilty pleas in DeKalb County State Court Tuesday.

Douglas Dee, the former band director, and Kelly Butler, the former choral director, pled guilty to pandering, a misdemeanor, and were fined $1,000 each, court officials said. They also were sentenced to 12 months probation and the judge suspended a 48-hour jail term.

Defendants face mandatory minimum sentences of at least two decades

Jorge Olivo, 24, of Roswell, Ga., and Rene Perez, 32, of San Marcos, Texas, both pleaded guilty in federal court in Newnan Jan. 12 to felony charges of conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute 173 kilograms of cocaine that had been couriered by flight from Texas to the Peachtree City’s Falcon Field airport.

Examination of tracts along bypass route reveals new information: See MAP here.

Several opponents of the west Fayetteville bypass have alleged that the $29.7 million project is a “developers’ road.”

It looks like the situation for Misty is improving. The 8-year-old mare is recovering from being shot four times in a Jan. 3 bow and arrow attack at the Padovano farm near Brooks.

Detectives arrested 17-year-old neighbor Jeremy Ryan Richardson and subsequently charged him with felony aggravated cruelty to animals.

Fayetteville police are still searching for two armed men who robbed the Bank of America at Ga. Highway 314 and New Hope Road near the Fayette Pavilion early Saturday afternoon. Investigators are also hoping that so-far unnamed customers who picked up some of the stolen money in the parking lot will contact police.

A proposal to rezone St. Paul Lutheran Church to allow for a new cellphone tower off Ga. Highway 74 North was tabled by the Peachtree City Planning Commission Monday night.

It was a relatively easy agenda item that came with a frequent 3-2 split vote on the Fayette County Board of Education. Board members Monday night voted to change the work session and regular meeting nights from Mondays to Tuesdays and re-elected Terri Smith as chairman and Lee Wright as vice-chair — all on the familiar split votes.

A Fayette County man was carjacked last week near Redwine Road after being followed from his business on Old National Highway. The man was not injured in the incident.

Let the voters have their say on some specialized new uses for existing property taxes, says the Fayetteville City Council.

Fayette County’s purchasing card program, reinvigorated in October 2008, has simplified purchasing for county departments with no abuse of the new associated policies, the county commission was told last week.

School system officials are preparing to meet with the Fayette County delegation in the General Assembly to make their feelings known on a half dozen issues of concern. The planned meeting was announced by Superintendent John DeCotis at Monday’s school board meeting.

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

When Noni Carter was a young girl in elementary school, she would write short stories and poetry. She had collected so many writings that she put them together in a collection for her family when she was eight years old. Four years later, after hearing her aunt tell a story about her great, great, great great grandmother watching her mother get sold into slavery on the banks of the Mississippi, Carter began writing a story that would change her life.

The Legacy Theatre has rented itself out for performances, meetings, parties and more, but the space is big and it can be expensive. Bethany Hayes Smith, the executive producer of The Legacy Theatre, and her husband, Mark Smith, the artistic director, decided to take some of their space and build a smaller venue for events that don’t need such a large space. The result is the swanky, club-like atmosphere of The Little Theater at Legacy.

A proposal to rezone St. Paul Lutheran Church to allow for a new cellphone tower off Ga. Highway 74 north was tabled by the Peachtree City Planning Commission tonight.

A gas-powered limb trimmer became an un-freezing tool for Fayette County public works employees Matt Neal and Miles Hoffman Monday at the fountain in front of the Fayette County Justice Center.

A Brooks resident who was in a serious car crash Dec. 23 remains in a coma at The Shepherd Center, but the community is rallying with prayers and financial support, a family friend has told The Citizen.

Though there are few items posted for the meeting Monday night at the Fayette County School Board, the item listed as Legislative Issues could prove to be very significant in coming months due to lagging state and local revenues.

Blood donors needed as freeze leads to shortage of types O- and B-; blood drive today at Fayette County Public Library from 3-7 p.m.

Fayetteville Police are searching for two black men who robbed the Bank of America at Ga. Highway 314 and New Hope Road near the Pavilion shopping center early this [Saturday] afternoon.

Last night and all day today, Coweta County road crews have worked to address the remaining black ice and slick spots on Coweta roads.