The Senoia area will host its first blood drive on Friday, November 28, 2008. The Senoia Optimist Club will be the sponsor and the location of the drive is the Senoia Methodist Church in historic Senoia. The drive hours are from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.

A 15 year-old Newnan girl who ran away last week was found safe in Tennessee and has been reunited with her family.

The parents of Elizabeth Marie Campbell found an instant message on her computer indicating she was running away. The computer message said the girl would try to hitch a ride to Walland, Tennessee or Maryville, Tennessee to meet a 17 year-old male, according to Newnan Police Chief Douglas Meadows.

It was a day that was less than a year in the making. But in that year, the city of Fairburn approved and built the first phase of a college campus and Georgia Military College (GMC)signed a 10-year lease as the first institution of higher learning to be located there.

Dillard’s at Ashley Park is hosting a three day Christmas shopping experience on Dec. 5-7 in collaboration with Community Welcome House the safe-haven in our community that serves women and children victims of domestic violence.

The Rotary Club of Newnan has given the Souns for literacy program to the Senoia Public Library for the library’s new, weekly, infant / toddler classes. An introductory class will be Monday, Dec. 1, at 10:30 a.m. The classes will be scheduled weekly beginning in January, 2009, and are for parents and their infants / toddlers up to 24 months of age.

Piedmont Newnan Hospital is pleased to announce the appointment of Edward M. Racht, M.D., as vice president of medical affairs and chief medical officer.  Dr. Racht will be responsible for providing leadership in all areas of clinical service; directing system-wide quality; facilitating clinical performance improvement; directing patient safety initiatives; developing best practices in managed care; assisting in improving the performance of employed physician practices; and furthering medical collaboration and innovation to provide the community with enhanced medical care. 

Senoia Planning Commission Nov. 18 will discuss a possible annexation and rezoning on Rockaway Road for use as office and community meeting space. The issue is being sent to planning commissioners after it was discussed Nov. 3 by the city council.

Freedom is not free.

Veterans Day is always a special occasion at Palmetto Elementary School. What began 13 years ago continued to expand into what has become a spectacular event complete with guest speakers, a student parade, JROTC color guard and hundreds of flags waved by excited students in the gym, private collections of vintage uniforms, flags, pictures and various military items near the media center and a 1943 Ford military jeep outside the school’s front door. And on Nov. 10 the tradition continued.

Piedmont Newnan Hospital today announced acquisition of the Newnan Hospital Health and Fitness Center from Newnan Hospital, Inc., effective Nov. 1, 2008. 

Just in time for Veteran's Day, new signs honoring veterans have been installed along Lower Fayetteville Road in Newnan. The city’s street department crew completed the installation of three signs on Monday. The signs are located just beyond the new roundabout and on either side of the intersection of Lower Fayetteville Road with Newnan Crossing Bypass.

Crossroads Chiropractic is joining forces with Soldiers of the Cross, Inc. this winter to gather new or gently worn coats, scarfs, mittens, hats, and blankets for the homeless and under housed in the downtown Atlanta area. For the last eight years Soldiers of the Cross (thanks to the generosity of local churches and individuals) have been able to bless many, many people that truly need these items. The distribution is always the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They usually are accompanied by 10 -15 people to assist in the effort.

Piedmont Newnan Hospital’s Sleep Center opened at its new location on Nov. 10 at 20 Francis Way, Suite 150 in Sharpsburg near Thomas Crossroads.

It was like down home in downtown. Crowds gathered around courthouse square in downtown Newnan Nov. 8 to hear local artists strum and sing at a free event: Pickin’ on the Square. And from the looks on their faces, no one was disappointed.

A preliminary discussion Nov. 3 by the Senoia City Council on a possible annexation and rezoning of 4 acres for office use on Rockaway Road will be taken up by the city’s Planning Commission later this month. The tract borders Senoia on the east, west and south sides.

More than 200 people were on hand Oct. 31 for the groundbreaking for Piedmont Newnan Hospital, located on Poplar Road at I-85. Half the hospital complex is expected to open in early 2011, with the remainder of the $194 million complex opening in 2020. With eight floors and a basement, Piedmont Newnan should be the tallest building in southwest metro Atlanta.

Coweta County commissioners voted unanimously Nov. 4 to support the annexation of Palmetto Baptist Church property into the city of Palmetto. The approval came with eight conditions.

Coweta commissioners Tuesday night reviewed and approved the Remaining Capacity Report for the Ishman Ballard Road C&D (Construction & Demolition) Landfill. The facility has an estimated lifetime that extends to 2025.

Bradley H. Murphey has joined United Community Bank as President/Chief Executive Officer of their Atlanta Southern Crescent locations, which include Fairburn, Union City, in addition to their offices in Coweta and Fayette Counties.

At Lee Middle School

     Extra off-site parking and shuttle buses to Garland Shoemake Stadium will be offered for the East Coweta-Newnan game this Friday, November 7.

The new look of Coweta County’s historic courthouse is underway. Visible now from the street is an unobstructed view of the courthouse, now in its rehabilitation phase, with the removal of the old water oak trees and one magnolia. The last of the 100 year-old oaks was removed Wednesday.

Coweta County Water and Sewerage Authority (CCWSA) and Coweta County filed suit against Shell Oil Company Oct. 23 for $25 million and damages over faulty water pipes that have cost the county millions to repair. The suit alleges breach of contract, negligence, product liability, fraud and violations of the Georgia Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act over the misrepresentation, marketing and sale of Blu-Max pipe, which uses a polybutylene resin manufactured by Shell.

One arrest has been made and others are pending in an Oct. 27 home invasion in Sharpsburg where a couple was pistol whipped and one of their vehicles stolen.

The intersection of Raymond Hill Road and Fischer Rd will be closed November 1 and 2. The planned closing last weekend could not be accomplished due to inclement weather.

Newnan Police were part of the Atlanta drug task force that led to three federal indictments unsealed on Tuesday in Atlanta charging a total of 41 defendants on multiple counts relating to a large scale drug distribution and money laundering scheme operating in the Northern District of Georgia and the Southern District of Texas. The Newnan Police city drug unit was also called in for help with this operation.

Twenty-two citizens of Coweta County have begun a seven-month course of study as part of Leadership Coweta, a community leadership development program offered by the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce.

Senoia selects architect for new police station

While news that Senoia was getting a new library was fantastic to many, it has turned into a headache for some.

Neighbors cited the need for a home for for abused and mistreated girls, but in the end, Coweta County commissioners Oct. 21 sided with several Roscoe residents in denying a request by Edify Teens Ministries for a six-person group home for girls on the five-acre property owned by Elise and Oliver Dunn. The Board of Zoning Appeals had previously recommended denial of the conditional use permit request.

It was a glimpse into the past and the future Oct. 22 as long-time economist and former small town mayor Bill Fruth was the featured speaker at the Coweta Economic Summit held at the Centre for the Performing and Visual Arts in Newnan.

The intersection of Raymond Hill Road and Fischer Road will be closed the weekend of October 25 and 26.  The closure will begin Saturday morning and end by Sunday evening, pending inclement weather.

The Georgia Department of Transportation announces lane closures on Interstate 85 between Exit 47 (State Route 34) and Exit 61 (State Route 74/Senoia Road) beginning Friday, October 17, through Friday, October 24. The closures are subject to change based on weather conditions.