Police: Beating incident in school bathroom was gang initiation

A student at Fayette County High School was arrested today for participating in a “beatdown” gang initiation in a school bathroom Nov. 1, police said.

Though it was bone-chilling cold outside, it didn’t keep Ayden Adams, 2, from the indoor pool at the Kedron Aquatic Center and Fieldhouse Wednesday afternoon. Temperatures today and tomorrow are projected to reach into the 50s with a milder weather system moving in. Photo/John Munford.

Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon is hoping to convince legislators that cities shouldn’t be forced to enact transportation improvements to benefit developments in neighboring jurisdictions, which was attempted with the now-abandoned extension of TDK Boulevard into Coweta County.

Pathway Communities plan for a new mega-community in eastern Coweta County could be resurrected nearly a year after the proposal was shelved in Sharpsburg.

The Senoia City Council could start off the new year by resolving a bit of unfinished business from last year.

On Monday night, the City Council will decided what to do about the proposed redevelopment of Crook’s Tire Center on Ga. Highway 16. With the widening of the busy state highway to start earlier this year, owner Greg Crook is hoping to get an answer on the redevelopment, so the project can get started in a timely fasion.

As of late Wednesday, some 24 people have applied to be Peachtree City’s next police chief.

Mayor Harold Logsdon said he hopes to have the position filled by the middle of February. The city has not yet cut off the acceptance of applications.

Patrons of the Peachtree City Library now have online access to legal forms for documents such as wills, power of attorney forms, landlord, real estate or tenant forms.

Peachtree City residents will have several places Saturday to drop off their old Christmas tree for recyling.

Three separate locations will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Those include:

About 2,200 homes in east Fayette County and part of south Clayton County lost power about 4:30 Thursday morning when a line on Inman Road had problems due to the cold weather, according to a spokesman for Coweta-Fayette EMC.

The Fayette Daybreak Rotary Club has the solution for your Christmas tree disposal dilemma.

For the fourth year in a row, the Fayette Daybreak Rotary Club has organized a free tree chipping event on January 5, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Fayetteville Home Depot on Pavilion Parkway. Just bring your tree down during the event and White-Meadows Tree Service will toss the tree into their massive chipper for you.

Longtime Peachtree City administrative services director Jane Miller died Monday.

Miller, 60, had long fought a bout with ovarian cancer, and she was known to take some chemotherapy treatments via IV while at her desk at City Hall.

In addition to her 24 years of service with the city, Miller was also active in the Peachtree City Kiwanis Club, having once served as its president. She also served on the board of directors of Tara Credit Union.

On Thursday’s agenda: a 3-month halt to new retail and an update on commercial restrictions

Peachtree City may start the new year off with a bang Thursday night by halting all new retail and commercial development for three months to evaluate further development restrictions.

PTC’s Pace helps AIDS orphans in Africa by sending cows

In a bid to help starving children in Africa, Jim Pace of Peachtree City is lobbying for support to help buy milk-producing cows for families and a large orphanage of children whose parents have died of AIDS.

For nearly six months last year, the educational community and Fayette’s parents were consumed by the lengthy process in drawing new boundaries for the county’s elementary schools.

Last year marked the start of a new era for the Fayette County Commission as two new commissioners took office. But the most surprising development took place at the initial meeting when newcomer Jack Smith was picked as chairman over long-time Commissioner Herb Frady.

It was a look behind for 2007 and a bit of a look ahead for 2008. A recent conversation with Fayetteville Mayor Kenneth Steele revealed his view of the status of the city, the current home to nearly 15,000 residents.

The American Red Cross will conduct a blood drive at the Lowe’s Home Improvement Store in Fayetteville Wednesday, Jan. 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Committee will be selected by district voting

The Fayette County Democratic Committee is making a significant change in how its committee is elected.

The 2007 Fayette County Spelling Bee champions were crowned during the school system’s annual spelling bee on December 10 at the LaFayette Educational Center.

United States service men and women traveling through Atlanta will have a phone card that they can use to call loved ones back at home thanks to the generosity of Bennett’s Mill Middle students, faculty and parents.

The kids from Fairburn’s International Learning Academy, ages 1-4, steal the day Dec. 14 as they put on a Christmas peformance for residents at Christian City. “We wanted to spead good cheer during the holidays,” said director Monica Peart. Photo/Ben Nelms.

Tyrone Police have been busy. And their efforts were not contained only to law enforcement. Members of the department continued their gift giving ways that began earlier in December in the Shop with a Cop program for needy children with a visit to Southland Nursing Home in Peachtree City Dec. 21 to help Santa stuff stockings using some of the proceeds from the earlier effort.

Most everyone in south Fulton and across metro Atlanta today who pays attention to criminal activity is acutely aware that juvenile crime is skyrocketing. But if Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards has his way, the juvenile crime statistics for 2008 might show some needed improvement.

Members of the Sandy Creek Kiwanis Key Club recently serenaded at the Azalea Estates Assisted Living Center and the home of Carolyn Cary.

GBI seeks four suspects in shooting

It was a bizarre incident at Duncan Park in Fairburn that has many questions still unanswered. In its wake, a man who had been kidnapped was seriously injured and four others are being sought by Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

Fairburn’s Green Oill Co. employees Donna Nichols and Sandra Candiotti display a check for $30,000 raised by company employees for charities benefitting children. Employees from the company’s five locations raised more than $1,000 each day for five days, surpassing their combined goal of $25,000. “We are so proud and grateful for the efforts and success of each and every member of our team. They exceeded a goal that we thought would be extremely difficult to achieve,” said marketing director Jim Callahan. Photo/Ben Nelms.

A Tyrone man was arrested Christmas Eve on charges of aggravated assault after attacking his wife with a knife.

John L. Hill, Jr., 44, admitted to police that he had struck his wife with a steak knife, causing a laceration, approximately one-inch in length and one-inch deep along her jaw, according to Public Information Officer Alicia Batts.

Fairburn police and firefighters make a difference in the life of a Hurricane Katrina survivor and her children this Christmas. Their efforts on behalf of the city’s new resident, and with the help of businesses in Fairburn and Palmetto, made the holiday season especially meaningful. Photo/Ben Nelms.

Things just have not tuned out like Cliftwood Development, Inc. planned. An effort by the developer to have 18.63 acres at Ga. Highway 138 and Jonesboro Road in Union city rezoned for the construction of 60 attached homes began with a denial by the city’s planning commission in June and ended Dec. 18 by withdrawing the proposal from the city council agenda until a later date.

Badcock Furniture is planning a move to Tyrone on Ga. Highway 74. Those plans will require additional work before the planning commission can address the site plan.