Born 15 weeks too soon at 1 lbs. 12 oz. and 1 lb. 10 oz., no one knew if Christine and Camille Sharper would survive. They did after spending three and a half months in a neo-natal intensive care unit they were able to come home. They have scars from numerous IVs and tests which serve as a daily reminder of their early arrival and just how they are a few of the lucky ones. Parents Roderick and Adriane know the important role that March of Dimes research played in helping their twins get this far, so they are grateful for the chance to serve as the 2007 Fayette Ambassador Family. They will share their story to help the March of Dimes raise awareness and funds to fight premature birth – the leading cause of newborn death – and other serious threats to infant health.

Coweta-Fayette EMC recently awarded a $6,500 grant to the Real Life Center Store in Tyrone. Proceeds from the thrift store will help provide additional financial support for clients of the Real Life Center, a non-profit organization that provides help for families and individuals who are going through an unexpected difficult circumstance.

Tyrone Elementary is the latest school to be added to Fayette’s list of Schools of Excellence.

Tyrone was one of 25 schools throughout the state that met the criteria for the award from the Georgia Department of Education. The school received the honor in the “student achievement” category. This distinction means that Tyrone is the top ranking school in the 8th Congressional District and is in the top 10 percent of schools in Georgia. The school is now eligible for consideration as a No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon nominee.

A Tyrone man has been indicted for distributing child pornography and possession of “several hundred images of what appears to be alleged child pornography,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Atlanta office.

In a move that left many residents stunned, Pathway Communities has decided to drop its annexation request to the Town of Sharpsburg.

It has quite a look to it doesn’t it? This conceptual rendering is the proposed Tyrone Main Street District plan, complete with commercial, residential and mixed use developments.

Here comes the future. What has long been the tree-lined vista of the South Fulton Parkway has begun a transformation at Ga. Highway 92 that is only the beginning of commercial, office and residential development in Union City’s 6.5-mile area of the parkway that will extend far into the future. The initial approved development will bring approximately 1.66 million square feet of retail, up to 2,900 residential units and 1.65 million square feet of warehouse space.

It is not common to have a decrease in serious crimes in an area that is experiencing rapid growth. But that is what happened in 2006 in Fairburn. Tallied for calendar year 2006, those crimes showed an overall 8.7 percent decrease over 2005.

It might be coincidence and is hopefully not related, but several members of the south Fulton and north Fayette communities began manifesting some of the same symptoms late last week that they experienced during the summer and fall months after breathing what they said were emissions from the Philip Services Corp. (PSC) waste treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92 near Fairburn. More than 750 Fulton and Fayette residents reported experiencing the same few symptoms in mid-2006 after breathing what many claimed were emissions of the chemical odorant Propyl mercaptan and organophospahte pesticide MOCAP that escaped the plant property.

Union City Planning Commission Jan. 29 adopted a 90-day moratorium on issues related to development along Roosevelt Highway. The move follows a late 2006 vote by the city council to adopt the Roosevelt Highway Corridor Overlay District guidelines.

The Georgia Society of CPAs (GSCPA) has honored one of Fayette’s future aspiring accountants.

Now is the time to begin applying for admission to Landmark Christian School for the 2007-2008 school year. A great first step is to check out Landmark's website, where you will find a wealth of information about Landmark and their admissions process.

A development proposal received by Tyrone official late last week could be the first step in revitalizing the town’s aging downtown.

Shelly McLemore has every reason to smile.

Fairburn city officials say 2006 was a great year and 2007 should be even better. That was the message at the annual city council retreat held Jan. 13.

A new group has come into existence in Chattahoochee Hills. The group may be new but the message is not. That message calls for a June vote to form a city that will control the development and the destiny of one of the last remaining large areas of rural metro Atlanta. Nearly 225 area residents filled the gym at Georgia Baptist Children’s Home for the Jan. 20 meeting.

A chill was in the air and the heat was on during the late night hours of Jan. 20 as Union City Police conducted roadchecks along some of the city’s highly traveled roads. Temperatures falling into the high 30s during the eight-hour exercise did not prevent officers from checking the licenses of hundreds of drivers and making 22 arrests.

Tyrone Planning Commission members David Nebergall, Ginger Blackstone and Jesse Nasiancerno are sworn in at the board’s Jan.

A Roswell man has been charged in the Jan. 17 burglary of D.J.’s Grocery at 504 Main Street. Photos taken during the burglary and items found in his vehicle led to his identification after he was arrested the next day in Newnan.

It may not be the most colorful topic on anyone’s short list but it clears up a problem that has been years in the making. Fairburn City Council Jan. 22 approved a measure adopted by the Tyrone Town Council in late 2006 that settles what has been a sticky issue over a portion of the town’s sewage needs.

Tyrone Planning Commission Jan. 25 approved a variance request to reduce setbacks to 10 feet on two adjacent lots located along Brentwood Road between Arrowood Road and Howell Park. The properties are in the Main Street area near Triangle Park.

The Tyrone Town Council sent a clear message to developers thinking about developing a tract near Flat Rock Middle School: leave it alone.

What was long held a dream by many in the Chattahoochee Hill Country area of South Fulton County is poised to become reality. In keeping with the concept that would contain development within a small fraction of the 40,000-acre Hill Country, plans have been submitted to create the 2,000-acre Friendship Village at South Fulton Parkway and Rivertown Road. Far from being an enclave, Friendship Village is envisioned to be a full-spectrum community designed to melt into the rolling hills of south Fulton while maintaining nearly two-thirds of the community as greenspace.

Planning commissioner Ken Matthews, pictured left, accepts thanks for his tenure on the Planning Commission during Thursday’s Town council meeting.

To Jim Simpson it is a family matter that need not be disturbed. To the developers of South Fulton Crossing shopping center it is a way to accommodate emerging business while preserving an old family graveyard.

The debate over whether to form the new City of South Fulton or remain unincorporated continued Thursday at Emmaus Road Missionary Baptist Church on Flat Shoals Road. Members of a half-dozen homeowners associations listened as Fulton County Commissioner Bill Edwards and South Fulton Concerned Citizens representative Benny Crane presented opposing views to the issue facing voters in June.

Chattahoochee Hill Country Conservancy has a new executive director. And Christine McCauley brings with her a passion for stewardship of the land and a desire to conserve the rural character of the 40,000-acre Chatt Hills area envisioned by residents and the organization.

Residents of Chattahoochee Hill Country are invited to attend the “Future City of Chattahoochee Hills” town hall meeting Jan.

Tyrone hopes to capitalize on its Irish heritage this spring as the town gets ready to stage its first St. Patrick’s Day festival.

The Sandy Creek Band strutted their stuff during last weekend’s Martin Luther King Jr.