Will become part of Bank of North Georgia

The following is the text of a news release issued today by Synovus, the parent corporation of Peachtree National Bank.

Synovus, the Columbus, Georgia-based diversified financial services company today announced plans to merge three Synovus banks – First Nation Bank, based in Covington, Georgia, and Peachtree National Bank in Peachtree City, Georgia – with Bank of North Georgia, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia.

The winners of the second annual Suburban Newspapers of America (SNA) Local Community Website contest were announced today and The Citizen, with the help of its loyal online readers, placed first in the category of Best Reader Interactivity.

The future of the law firm of Bill McNally as the county’s attorney could soon be settled as the county begins looking at the process of hiring an in-house attorney.

Officials worry about dry conditions, wind creating fire hazard

Fayette County fire officials have begun handing out warning citations in an effort to curb residents using fire to dispose of debris.

The Fayette County Commission started budget deliberations Monday and will have to figure out the answers to some tough questions before the budget gets final approval in June.

The Fayette County Board of Education Monday night tentatively approved the biggest budget in its history.

The $192 million budget could feature a small tax hike, but school spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said that will not be known until the school board sets the millage rate at the end of July.

West Village tract faces challenges including landfill questions

The Peachtree City Council will appoint a task force to study what should be done with a vacant 88-acre site just to the east of recently annexed property in the city’s West Village area.

Traffic down to previous levels; some have been stolen

Speed bumps in the Planterra Ridge subdivision will stay, for now, as more data is sought to determine if they should stay ... or be replaced with the less-intrusive speed cushions.

A county-wide ceremony for Memorial Day will be held Monday at the Fayetteville city cemetery starting sharply at 11 a.m., organizers said.

Fayette Sheriff’s Drug Task Force (DTF) May 17 made seven arrests and seized street-level quantities of marijuana and methamphetamine after executing four search warrants at two locations. DTF made five arrests at Landmark Mobile Home park on marijuana and meth charges and two additional misdemeanor marijuana arrests on Old Greenville Road. But it was the condition of that residence that had agents calling Fayette Dept. of Family & Children’s Services (DFACS).

A man was injured early Sunday evening when he was accosted by two teenagers at a Fayetteville gas station, police said.

Suspect poses as customer before pulling gun

The Dollar General store at the Banks Station shopping center in Fayetteville was robbed at gunpoint early Friday evening, police said.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for the annual Georgia Special Olympics games will be coming through downtown Fayetteville Thursday around 8 a.m.

Devoted coach of Junior Tennis Players

The public is invited to the Memorial Dedication to honor and remember Beth Choate Wortmann (1971-2006) to be held on Wednesday, May 23, at the Peachtree City Tennis Center at 6:30 p.m. Based upon Wortmann’s years of service to the local community, the City of Peachtree City has chosen to recognize her. The Southern Crescent Tennis Association has donated a memorial plaque which will be located at the tennis center and dedicated at this event.

The Science Olympiad team at J.C. Booth Middle is one of the best in the nation and they proved it again this weekend with their top three finish at the national competition.

They say they are ready for June 19. And that sentiment was easily evidenced May 19 as 200 Chattahoochee Hill Country residents heard the latest information on the June vote to accept the charter of the new city and exercise local control for the first time.

Smoke from the south Georgia wildfires has reached Fayette County Tuesday morning, and already fire officials are seeing a spike in 911 calls from persons who see the smoke and worry a fire is nearby, officials said.

Despite about a dozen or so false alarms as of mid-morning, officials are still dispatching units to all smoke calls as a precaution, said Interim Public Safety Director Allen McCullough. Units are also responding to a higher number of respiratory distress calls, he added.

Palmetto resident Cory Nestlehutt is bringing his mixed martial arts event back to the Frederick Brown Jr. Amphitheater on Saturday, June 23.

A man was injured early Sunday evening when he was accosted by two teenagers at a Fayetteville gas station, police said.

The victim was stabbed by one of the teens, but he didn’t see a weapon, police said.

Suspect poses as customer before pulling gun

The Dollar General store at the Banks Station shopping center in Fayetteville was robbed at gunpoint early Friday evening, police said.

The suspect posed as a customer buying a drink, and when the cashier opened the register to make change he produced a silver handgun, police said.

The Law Enforcement Torch Run for the annual Georgia Special Olympics games will be coming through downtown Fayetteville Thursday around 8 a.m.

Bear Creek Middle School is one of 29 schools in the United States chosen to be a NASA Explorer school.

If appearances hold true, it looks as if the vote to create the city of South Fulton will be postponed. But in the middle of the mix came a vote Thursday night by the pro-city South Fulton Concerned Citizens, Inc. (SFCC), asking Gov. Sonny Perdue to veto House Bill (HB) 725 on which the new city limits is currently based. Further west in unincorporated south Fulton County, the vote to create the City of Chattahoochee Hills is set for June 19.

Union City, Palmetto and Fairburn earlier this week gave approval to refinance the $41.7 million 2003 bond for South Fulton Municipal Regional Water and Sewer Authority through an interest rate-swap that would provide an additional $13 million to construct a reservoir and install water lines to serve the two cities and Palmetto. But for Fairburn there was more to the story.

Union City has upped the ante on the types of building materials developers can use on residential exteriors. The City Council May 15 approved an amendment to the Residential Zoning Ordinance, now requiring that a minimum of 75 percent of the exterior siding material for the facade facing the street must be brick or stone. The remaining sides of the structure must be 100 percent brick, stone, hardcoat stucco, cement-type siding or wood. vinyl and metal siding is now longer allowed, the amendment said.

It will be far from the usual Memorial Day commemoration where a small group of people gather in a cemetery or public place to remember local military heros. The Memorial Day Commemoration in Fairburn May 28 will be anything but ordinary.

It is nice gesture to give someone a ride, but things can turn bad even if the person is an acquaintance. That was the lesson learned May 3 by three women from the Fairburn, Fayetteville and College Park areas.