Ban lifted, but special Council approval now necessary

Despite lifting its previous ban on “big box” stores larger than 32,000 sq. ft., Peachtree City is strengthening its ability to fend off legal challenges over such stores, officials said.

Stipend program needed to boost call response

Volunteer firefighters in Peachtree City will get a small stipend for answering each call under a pilot program approved last week by the City Council.

Starr’s Mill High School freshmen Kate Wertelecki, Rebecca Crispin and Jennifer Taylor along with 6 year old Walker Allen, came prepared to root on Paris Bennett at Smokey Bones Tuesday night.

While some folks are still waiting for the Three Dollar Cafe to open its doors in Peachtree City, there are several other restaurants in the works to keep the taste buds of local diners happy.

The Peachtree City Fire and Rescue Department recently welcomed 18 fully-trained volunteer firefighters into their ranks.

A popular local independent restaurant has been shut down by the Georgia Department of Revenue for failure to pay sales taxes.

Mayor wants to meet with developer for answers

The residential component of Peachtree City’s first large-scale mixed use development is nearing completion.

Coweta and Peachtree City commuters will be doing “the shift” starting Wednesday at the intersection of Ga. Highway 54 and Ga. Highway 34.

A Peachtree City man has been arrested for molesting a 12-year-old girl, police said.

Julian Pipkins, 40, of Merrick Drive, Peachtree City, was arrested Thursday on the charges. His girlfriend, who is the mother of the victim, reported the incident by flagging down a police officer early Wednesday morning, police said.

It’s been 40 years since “real” Ivory families told us “young-looking skin runs in an Ivory Soap family” in the 1960s generations ad campaign.

Brittany Smith makes a throw in for the Lady Indians (7-1).

A developer of subdivisions aimed at the “active adult” lifestyle has set its sights on Peachtree City’s unofficial West Village, officials said Monday. Mayor Harold Logsdon says he favors that annexation plus all the rest of the “West Village” now outside the city limits.

By JOHN MUNFORD
and JOHN THOMPSON

A dormant proposal to link homes in Senoia to Peachtree City’s sewage treatment system has been resurrected. This time, with a new mayor and two new council members in the driver’s seat, the deal may go through.

Newnan resident Markino Byrd is arrested (above, R) for drug possession March 2 by Fayette County Sheriff’s Department Drug Task Force in front of the Peachtree City Home Depot.

The Fayette County Commission decided to break with the past last week as the board approved 24 new positions for the upcoming year.

County officials are clashing again with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department, this time over the sheriff’s cell phone bills.

Five queens display their new crowns at the 38th Annual Miss Pride Pageant Saturday at Sams Auditorium in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville Planning and Zoning commissioners said no Feb. 28 to a portion of a rezoning request that would locate a mixed use medical office and residential development near the southeast corner of Ga. Highway 54 and Burch Road.

Back to back busts in Fayetteville March 1 and in Peachtree City March 2 netted four arrests and charges for intent to distribute marijuana, crack cocaine and Ecstasy. A third bust March 6 in Fayetteville resulted in the arrest of three men on marijuana charges.

No gas. No gambling. That was the situation Friday night when the Phillips 66 Pit Stop at 630 N. Glynn St. in Fayetteville was shut down for illegal cash pay-outs on video poker.

In its years of service to residents throughout Fayette County, Promise Place has made a difference in the lives of victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Continuing that expanding mission led Promise Place Director Sonja Strickland to ask Fayetteville City Council March 2 for funding assistance when council members begin planning expenditures for the upcoming fiscal year. Though no promises for funding were made, council members seemed receptive to the request.

An increase in flu activity during the past two weeks is normal for this time of year according to officials with the Georgia Department of Human Resources, Division of Public Health. After a relatively calm start to the 2005-2006 flu season, health officials say an increase in reports of influenza-like illness and positive lab reports in several regions indicate more typical widespread flu activity.

The Fayette Democratic Women will host their March breakfast meeting at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Du-Roc Café in Fayetteville. State Senator Valencia Seay (D-34), State Representative Roberta Abdul-Salaam (D-74), and Dana L. Lemon (member, State Transportation Board) will address the group on a variety of state and local issues.

The McIntosh High School Science Olympiad team won first place overall with gold medals in five events in the Georgia Science Olympiad regional competition at Macon State College. The team won a total of 34 medals and earned a position in the state competition March 25 at Emory University.

Are you worried about how much worse local and regional traffic is going to become as time goes by?

If so, you should attend a meeting hosted by the Atlanta Regional Commission Thursday, March 9, to inform citizens how to help plan improvements in land use, traffic, transit and other mobility challenges. The meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Fayette County Library.

Three 16-year-old drivers have been charged with racing and reckless driving stemming from a violent auto crash Aug. 30, police said.

The growth of development south of I-85 in Fairburn is obvious. Anticipating the water needs that will accompany future growth was the impetus Feb. 27 for the City Council’s approval of a study to generate a water system hydraulic model of the area.

It is more than a business. It is more than a family fitness center. It is a community. For Workout Anytime Family Fitness Center owner Daniel Bryant, it is a dream come true.

A decision Feb. 21 by Union City council members created an outside work program for minimum custody inmates at South Fulton Municipal Regional Jail.

Fairburn council members Feb. 27 approved a contract to upgrade the old Fireside Wastewater Pump Station using funds from the sewer bond account. The $303,243 low bid was awarded to Newnan-based Ronny D. Jones Enterprises.