Try as they might, Adams Homes cannot get approval of a project to construct single-family homes in the duplex community of Red Oak Walk near Christian City. The Union City Council voted unanimously Oct. 16 to deny the request.

Georgia Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson announced Thursday the details of the Reservoir Development and Drought Relief Act which will be introduced in the legislature this upcoming session.

Fairburn’s fiscal year began Oct. 1 and along with it came the adoption of the city’s $23.8 million budget.

Projected General Fund revenues totaling $8.148 million are a 9.4 percent increase over the previous year, and include $2.5 million in property taxes, $1.45 million in local option sales tax, $140,000 in motor vehicle tax, $233,000 in franchise tax, $350,000 in business and occupation taxes, $325,000 in insurance premiums, $1.9 million in non-tax revenues such as development and landfill tipping fees, $450,000 in other taxes such as alcohol, insurance and real estate and $725,000 in interfund transfers.

Palmetto lost a long-time public safety official Oct. 23 with the passing of Assistant Police Chief Fred Waddell.

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Waddell’s law enforcement career spanned 35 years, with more than 20 years in service in Palmetto.

The 2006 bond issue designed to upgrade some of Union City’s roadways received two more approvals Oct. 16, with the city council approving $346,407 in project expenditures.

Cameron Willis and Donivan Tilley rehearse a scene from Bear Creek Middle School’s first production, Jack and the Beanstalk, November 2-3 at 7:30 at the Southside Theatre in Fairburn.

It was not the 40,000 anticipated, but music lovers came by thousands Oct.

It is always significant when a large number of citizens turn out for a political forum. It is even more significant when 15 percent of the registered voters show up to hear candidates’ positions. That was the case Oct. 13 when more than 200 witnessed a piece of history at Chattahoochee Hill Country’s first candidates forum. Conducted at Foxhall Farms in Douglas County, the forum provided a large-scale public venue for the new city’s 19 candidates.

Union City’s next development is on the horizon on property annexed along South Fulton Parkway last year. The mainly residential development will feature single-family homes, 153 townhomes and 292 rent-structured apartments, with some of those being the Section 8 apartments strenuously objected to last year when the proposal first surfaced. The development is located just east of the Parkway Village commercial center located on the northeast corner of the parkway and Ga. Highway 92.

Residents of unincorporated South Fulton got an update Oct. 18 of the county’s finances at a budget hearing at the Stonewall Tell Annex. The current economic downturn may result in a $37.6 million difference in expenditures over revenues. The outlook for the new Special Service District (SSD) Fund, those monies generated and spent in the county’s only remaining unincorporated area, is projected at $913,943 in expenditures over revenues. The good news is that transferable Fund 300 monies total $27.5 million.

A 19 year-old Fairburn man came out about as fortunate as a person can get after being shot in the head. The man was treated and released from Grady Hospital after the Oct. 16 incident in Palmetto.

It was an informative update for nearly 100 residents of Chattahoochee Hill Country Oct. 9 as board members of Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance provided a look at the organization’s multi-faceted activities on behalf of the community at the group’s annual meeting.

It is a fun time as usual for the Union City Fall Festival held Oct. 12 and 13. The festivites began with live music and activities Friday night at Union Station and continued Saturday with the annual parade, followed by a drum exhibition by Creekside High School Band, carnival rides, more live music and fireworks. Photo/Ben Nelms.

It will be a different kind of Trick or Treat in Fairburn this year. Fairburn Police will hold a “Trick or Trunk” Halloween celebration in Duncan Park Oct.

Candidates for the three city council seats in Fairburn will attend a meet the candidates forum Sunday, Oct. 21 beginning at 4 p.m.

Fairburn resident Kimberly Byrd was recognized earlier this week as one of the 18 child care providers in the United States. Byrd was also featured as a “Provider of the Week” on the award-winning PBS program A Place of Our Own. The daily television series, devoted to the needs of individuals who care for children, sponsored the awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with BP and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The long-standing tradition in Fairburn continued Oct. 6 with the community’s annual Old Campbell County Homecoming.

It is being billed as the first of its kind in the world. And it is coming to south Fulton County. A sweeping project sponsored by the Africa Heritage Foundation, Inc. will feature a variety of economic, educational and nation-specific venues across portions south Fulton. The five-year project beginning in fall 2009 will contain multiple sites and venues constructed at a cost of $4-10 billion and provide a minimum of 10,000 jobs.

Fairburn City Council’s Aug. 27 denial of a request by Walker Brothers to establish a waste transfer station for construction debris and household trash on Bohannon Road is about to land the city in court. Walker filed a lawsuit Sept. 11 in Fulton County Superior Court, insisting that the site plan should have been approved because the property was already zoned for that use, according to city administrator Jim Williams at the council’s Oct. 8 meeting.

Reports last week of the significant presence of mold and the illness-causing fungus Scopulariopsis at the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Atlanta Center in Hampton led to a work stoppage by Peachtree Mechanical, Inc., the Fayetteville firm contracted to work on the center’s ventilation system. A majority of the hundreds of air traffic controllers and other employees at the facility have experienced unexplained illnesses they now believe is linked to exposure to Scopulariopsis, found in late September by an environmental contractor working at the site.

It was an informative update for nearly 100 residents of Chattahoochee Hill Country Oct. 9 as board members of Chattahoochee Hill Country Alliance provided a look at the organization’s multi-faceted activities on behalf of the community at the group’s annual meeting.

Bear Creek Middle School recently began the character education program C.H.O.I.C.E.S. (Children Heeding Opportunities in Educational Services). This program is open to all Bear Creek students interested in family, friends, kindness, trustworthiness, reliability, respectfulness, goal setting, honesty, and good old fashioned fun. The mission of the C.H.O.I.C.E.S program is to encourage involvement of multicultural groups with activities, both in school and after school, and to embrace social, cultural and daily life skills. The program will be built on principles of respect, tolerance, moral values, and civic responsibility.

The political season is underway across south Fulton with a total of 40 candidates vying for mayoral and city council seats in Palmetto, Union City, Chattahoochee Hill Country and Fairburn.

A Union City woman has been sentenced to more than two years in prison and ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution for providing fraudulent W-2 forms to file false tax returns.

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) voted Sept. 26 to approve a $67 billion regional transportation plan to combat the worst traffic bottlenecks and provide new transit and pedestrian options for travel in metro Atlanta.

The city of Union City will host its 18th annual Fall Festival event on October 12 and 13. This year’s festival will be held at Union Station Mall in Union City and will feature two days of family oriented fun. The festival is designed to promote a sense of community between Union City residents, business owners and city government. The festival begins October 12 at Union Station Mall at 6 p.m. with a Country and Western theme featuring a country music concert featuring Jason Coley Byrd and Haley Hicks. Radio Disney will be on hand with a show for kids of all ages. There will also be a Piñata’ bash for children under the age of 12. A large carnival attraction will be on the property between October 10-14. The rides and attractions will be open daily for your enjoyment.

It is a learning experience and a time for fun at Norma’s Academy of Dance.

It was far from an average decision by a City Council. Fairburn council members Sept. 24 agreed to initiate a $10 million project that will construct a downtown college campus designed to house Georgia Military College (GMC) and possibly other satellite campuses from area colleges and universities. Plans call for GMC into move to the Fairburn-owned facility in October 2008.

It’s Christian City 1, Fulton County 0. A Sept. 14 letter sent to the Union City-based non-profit by Fulton County, accusing the organization of not fulfilling its obligations in connection with a $1 million federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) “forgivable loan’ and threatening legal action turned out to be more than inappropriate. The letter should have never been written.

Fairburn continued its discussion on the question of allowing waste transfer stations inside the city, with city council members Sept. 24 reviewing three options on the volatile public issue. The council made no decision, agreeing to continue the discussion after further review of the ordinance pertaining to that type facility.