A gang by any other name is still a gang. And in the case of the “Kosovo Gang” from Peachtree City, three arrests have been made after a June 3 attack on an 18-year-old Fayetteville man in a dispute reportedly involving a girlfriend.

The Fayette County Commission signed off on the county’s $79 million budget June 28, but it was not the usual unanimous affirmation of the process.

County Commissioner Herb Frady did not mince any words at a June 28 concerning an ongoing controversy over the new minutes procedures for the county commission meetings.

Ballard: Office ‘aggressively prosecutes’ the crime

Tyrone attorney Rudjard Hayes, running for district attorney, is criticizing his opponent for being too lenient on sentences to defendants who have pleaded guilty to Internet pornography and child exploitation charges.

Most all the candidates in multiple races faced the public at a political forum Monday night at Sam’s Auditorium in Fayetteville sponsored by the Fayette County Branch of NAACP. The 21 candidates were joined by approximately 50 members of the public.

Questions over the adequacy of meeting minutes kept by the Fayette County Board of Education arose in a May 23 letter to board members from Georgia First Amendment Foundation (FAF).

A Fayetteville police officer has been named the Officer of the Year for the entire state by the American Legion veterans association.

They say it is a sign of the times. Older times, that is. Fayetteville Planning & Zoning Commission agreed June 24 to recommend approval of a rezoning proposal to have the single-family Stella’s Place development on Grady Avenue become an age-restricted community of attached homes.

The Fayette County Republican Party will be holding one more candidate forums before the July 15 Primary Election.

There will be a forum for the candidates for sheriff, probate judge, and district attorney at the Fayetteville Library July 10, 2008 from 7 p.m.-8:45 p.m..

While temperatures continue to rise this summer, the American Red Cross reports that the blood inventory levels are so low it is unable to sufficiently meet the demand of local hospitals. While there is a constant need for all blood types, donors with O positive, O negative, A negative and B negative blood types are asked to take an hour to donate right away.

The SouthSide Pioneers Track and Field Club competed at the 2008 AAU National Club Championships meet in Orlando, Fla., last week. The SouthSide Pioneers young men’s team placed second overall in the Young Men’s division at a meet that hosted over 900 athletes.

Click HERE for our photo gallery from Friday's parade.

Fayette residents lined south Peachtree Parkway Saturday morning to take in the annual spectacle that is the Peachtree City July 4th parade.

Nearly 100 residents turned out Tuesday night for a spirited debate among the candidates for the District Attorney and Fayette County Sheriff’s race.

Peachtree City officials are on their way toward essentially mothballing two zoning categories, after a vote for the change was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission Monday night.

Like the song says, one thing leads to another. That was the case June 26 when what began as a trip to Tyrone Police Department to pay a fine led to the discovery of a stolen vehicle and rifle and a charge marijuana possession.

It came as a short announcement that packs a big punch for Tyrone residents. Judy Jefferson at the Thursday town council meeting told the audience that Home Depot agreed to a $5,000 grant to help restore the picnic area at Shamrock Park on Senoia Road.

Peachtree City Christian Church presents B.I.G. 4th of July Weekend Celebration

On July 6, the community is invited to join Peachtree City Christian Church in welcoming Coach Bobby Bowden to speak at the 10:45 a.m. and 11 a.m. worship services. Bowden’s visit is part of the church activities during the B.I.G. 4th of July Weekend Celebration. Other activities include a picnic fireworks at Pebble Pocket Pool and participation in the PTC Parade.

Kathryn Flandermeyer (age 10), daughter of Scott and Tracey Flandermeyer of Peachtree City, sings with award-winning musician Eric Litwin during the Vacation Reading Program at Peachtree City Library.

Robin Merriman, left, displays a quilt that his wife Leslie made of his Peachtree Road race shirts.

baseball roundtable by Michael Boylan

Main Street Newnan will kick off the city’s Independence Day activities with the annual parade at 6 p.m. on Friday, July 4. The parade starts at the Veterans Park at the corner of Temple and Jackson Street and continues down Jackson and LaGrange to conclude at Newnan High School. 

A Norcross man died after being shot just before 1 a.m. June 28 at a 55 Trammell Road home construction site near Grantville. He was shot at point blank range below the neck with a 12-gauge shotgun by J. Veitch Construction owner Jason Veitch. A bond petition for Veitch was denied in Coweta Superior Court earlier this week.

The nationwide economic slowdown will likely result in increased tax rates for many Americans. But not Coweta residents. County commissioners July 1 decided to rollback taxes to offset any net millage rate increase. Commissioners also decided to hold off temporarily on setting a date for a fire bond referendum.

baseball roundtable by Michael Boylan

The rehabilitation of Newnan’s landmark 1906 courthouse is nearly set to begin. Work on the $7.5 million Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax-funded (SPLOST) project will start up in early fall and is expected to be completed in 12-18 months.

Without stoplight, shopping center may go back to drawing board

A developer’s request for a new traffic light on Ga. Highway 54 West for a new shopping center in Peachtree City is going nowhere at the Georgia Department of Transportation, DOT officials confirmed this week.

Former teacher and Post 3 incumbent Marion Key gives a redistricting grade of “F” to the majority on the Fayette County Board of Education.

Republicans also hosting rally at headquarters

Three candidate forums will be hosted next week for voters wanting to learn more about those running for local office in the July 15 primary.

AN OPINION

Click here to go to the forum.

The four sheriff candidates, four (see update below) board of education candidates and the district attorney of this judicial circuit all have refused even to answer The Citizen’s tough questions for our online political forum.

DA Ballard says, “I don’t blog.”

The sheriff candidates — whom we once thought were strong men ready for a demanding job answerable to the public — banded together to say, “We believe that participating in a forum of this type will ... be unproductive ... and would consume an enormous amount of time which we feel would be better spent on more constructive business.”

The four (see below) board of education candidates — including two incumbents — were offended by our tough, pointed questions. “We are running a positive campaign and believe these questions are negative in nature. The challengers will not disrespect the current members of the board.” Write softer questions and we might condescend to answer, they in effect said.

Well, somebody has gotten disrespected in this mess of mass political cowardice — the 43,000 readers of this newspaper (a minimum estimate, since that’s how many homes we deliver to each week) and the nearly 53,000 people who visit our website.