But property tax bills will go up

Tyrone residents will see an increase on their town property tax bills, but the town will be able to hold its millage rate the same as last year, officials said.

An article in Friday’s edition of the Peachtree Citizen incorrectly noted the date of the runoff election for the Post 5 County Commission seat and other statewide races. The correct date is Tuesday, Aug. 8.

Tyrone finally received funds for recreation from Fayette County, but the timing of the award has two City Councilman up in arms.

Residents in south Fulton and north Fayette counties fed up with being sick and finding no help from their county governments filed a class action law suit Monday over illnesses they say were caused by the onion-like smell of Propyl mercaptan coming from the Philip Services Corp. waste treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92. To date, more than 225 say they are sick or have been since the smell began weeks ago and nearly 800 have signed a petition demanding immediate action.

The work of annexing one of Union city’s larger unincorporated islands came to an end July 18 as council members held 134 back-to-back public hearings to rezone and annex 67 parcels in Vickers Mill subdivision.

South Fulton Chamber of Commerce is no stranger to having more than its share of noteworthy speakers at its monthly meeting. The organization’s meeting Thursday was no exception as Gov. Sonny Perdue took the podium before a large crowd at Georgia International Convention Center in College Park.

Palmetto Elementary School held its annual Spelling Bee recently, with first place going to Trey McLendon in Ms. Tomecek’s fifth-grade class. Trey will go on to compete in the Fulton County Spelling Bee.

Georgia Dept. of Transportation announced that two southbound lanes of I-85 will be closed Monday, July 24 from 8 PM until 4 AM Tuesday morning.

The Fulton County Board of Education has named Kiné Geathers as the new Sandtown Middle School principal. Mrs. Geathers comes to Sandtown after serving three years as a curriculum assistant principal at Banneker High School and three years as a counselor at North Springs High School. She began her education career as a high school counselor in DeKalb County. In addition, she was the summer school principal when the program was at Banneker High School in 2005.

Join the Fairburn Police and Fire Departments on August 1, from 6 p.m.-10 p.m. in Duncan Park for “National Night Out.”

Schools in Fulton County have announced their new student registration dates and Open House dates for the 2006-07 school year. The new school year begins Monday, August 14, for the majority of Fulton County students. Two south Fulton elementary schools, College Park and Parklane, operate on a year-round calendar and begin school on July 24.

The following arrests were made by Fairburn Police between July 12-18:

Cyril Kirkland, 50, Fairburn, disorderly conduct-public drunk

They came to tell their story.

Residents from Fayette and Fulton County packed the Fayette County Commission chambers Thursday to tell of a health concern that has gripped an area with fear and left many residents ill after the pesticide Propyl mercaptan was released into the environment at a waste treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92 in South Fulton County.

There have been a number of confirmed symptoms and illnesses reported by some residents in Fayette and Fulton counties after exposure in recent weeks to the onion-like smell present in the air.

The first step in Tyrone’s comprehensive plan for the next 20 years lays out in bare-bones terminology some of the critical issues and problems the town’s leaders will be trying to solve.

Court upholds disqualification for BOE seat

Any remote chance Greg Powers had for getting re-elected to the Fayette County Board of Education has essentially evaporated.

The onion-like smell of pesticide component Propyl mercaptan coming from the Philip Services Corporation (PSC) waste treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92 just inside Fulton County is not dissipating. Present for weeks and still very evident in the air, the effects of the odor has sickened more than 100 residents in North Fayette and South Fulton counties. The smell has sporadically covered an estimated 200 square miles over a large area of Fayette and portions of south Fulton, Coweta and Clayton counties during the past few weeks. Though permitted by Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to handle such industrial waste, the 20 loads of chemical that arrived at the plant between June 21-29 has and is causing a problem, neighbors say. And residents close to the plant in both counties are tired of being ill. They want answers. They want the smell to stop. Yet results from follow-up tests conducted at the plant July 14 showed no detection of Propyl mercaptan at levels that would be considered a health risk.

Palmetto has a new budget that came in $2.7 million lower than last year. Adopted July 6, the $14.23 million budget reflects a substantial decrease over last year due to the nearly-completed sewer system upgrade. Also reflected were increases from water and sewer revenues, the renovation at the old depot, property reevaluations and anticipated tipping fees from Willow Oak Landfill once the facility is annexed. Perhaps as important as any provision in the budget was an increase in starting salary for police officers and the commitment to hire two new officers.

It’s not always easy sitting on the accountability hot seat. That is especially true when it comes to Fairburn’s accountability policing model. It is one that puts the concept of being accountable for the job as an up front requirement rather than an afterthought that exists in so many lines of work today in the American workplace.

Local artist Todd Hanson demonstrates watercolor techniques to a few of Rico Community’s other artists in residence.

Fairburn council members July 10 approved a 2.2 percent power cost adjustment increase in electric rates beginning in October, designed to offset the ongoing loss to the city due to fluctuating national energy costs. The city will write off the $400,000 loss already incurred.

The following arrests were made by Fairburn Police between June 28 and July 11:

juvenile, female, 12, Fairburn, affray

On June 29, 2006 Creekside High School Cheerleaders lead by the coaching staff of Marisa Wilson, Hilary Williams, Stephanie Brown, and Carmen Paul walked away with honors in the following categories:

The Fairburn business Association is sponsoring the first in a series of “Concerts at the Courthouse” July 29 at 7 p.m. on the Old Campbell Courthouse lawn. The initial concert will feature the Dappled Grays, who began in 2000 as a project dedicated to playing original new acoustic music. Their first album “In the Gait” was released to great reviews which included a feature article in “Flatpicking Guitar” magazine, airtime on MTV and being named best traditional bluegrass band by Creative Loafing Magazine. Original members Casey Cook and Michael Smith, along with new members Leah Calvert, Keith Morris and Greg Earnest, are currently working in the studio on a new project whose aim is to focus on vocals with interesting and original new material.

A public meeting to address issues relating to the onion-like smell of Propyl mercaptan detected recently in Fulton and Fayette counties is July 19 at 7 p.m.

Tyrone finally received funds for recreation from Fayette County, but the timing of the award has two City Councilman up in arms.

It was a real slice of Americana. Tyrone’s first July 4 Celebration at Shamrock Park was a mix of food, music, games and just plain fun. It was also the occasion to celebrate the lake’s recently installed fountain, outfitted with lights.

The smell just won’t go away. Several residents in south Fulton and north Fayette counties have become ill and many more disturbed by the strong onion-like odor coming from the Philips Services (PSC) treatment plant on Ga. Highway 92. The odor of pesticide ingredient Propyl mercaptan has permeated parts of those counties during the past three weeks, triggering increasing complaints June 29 when its most recent shipments showed up at the facility. Though the shipment was refused and returned to its Alabama source, its brief exposure to the air is wreaking olfactory havoc with increasing numbers of neighbors and those living within a 50 square mile area of the plant.

It had to be some kind of world record. For two reasons. Union City Planning Commission June 26 conducted a whopping 137 public hearings on the proposed rezoning and annexation of remaining unincorporated islands located within the city. Commissioners voted to recommend the measures while a near-empty chamber room heard the repeated echoes of three affected residents who opposed the plan.

This map is a representation of the of proposed areas of annexation by the cities of South Fulton County.