Fayette County is still having issues with out-of-county students attending school here. A report heard by school board members Monday night showed that 51 students so far this school year have withdrawn after being found not to have legal residency.

Reports of the sightings of large primates, usually referred to as “Bigfoot,” are not uncommon across the United States. But they are uncommon in Fayette County. At least until this past summer.

If you’re late jumping on the Sandy Creek bandwagon but want to show your support for the Patriots, here’s what you need to know.

The Patriots won their Class AAAA state semi-final game at Griffin last Friday and are now the first football team in Fayette County history to make the state finals.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office has made arrests in connection with two armed robberies that were reported on Nov. 29 and again on Nov. 30.

A variance request by Fayette Pavilion owner/manager Developers Diversified Realty Corp. for additional monument signs along Pavilion Parkway to help draw needed customers was tabled prior to the Dec. 3 Fayetteville City Council meeting for further review. The issue could be taken up at the Dec. 17 meeting.

A Jonesboro man was arrested Dec. 1 in the Walmart parking lot at the Fayette Pavilion for striking his pit bull with his fist and displaying belligerent and drunken behavior.

Robert Pittman of Newnan shared his remembrances of the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor before a rapt crowd today in Peachtree City.

Pittman, 91, was stationed at nearby Schofield Barracks as part of an anti-aircraft unit that aimed “flak” at enemy aircraft. Much of the unit was away on a training mission, leaving Pittman and his Schofield infantry pals to fend off Japanese fighters with the only artillery they had: guns leftover from World War I.

Though no details are available, a called meeting of the Fayette County School Board Monday night will include an agenda item relating to the residency of some students.

Sports Editor Michael Boylan reports Sandy Creek beat the Griffin Bears Friday night 22 to 15 in Griffin.

Follow his Twitter account of the AAAA semifinal game between the Sandy Creek Patriots and the Griffin Bears on TheCitizenSports.com

1st Lt. Dan Berschinski, who lost both his legs several months ago in an explosion while his unit patrolled in Afghanistan, is supporting a plan to add 30,000 troops to the country to battle Taliban forces.

F’ville’s Bank of America, Tyrone’s Rite-Aid and Coleman’s Store in north Fayette hit Sunday night and Tuesday in unrelated incidents

by John Munford and Ben Nelms

Fayetteville police are looking for a suspect who robbed the Bank of America at gunpoint at 12:30 Tuesday afternoon.

The Sandy Creek High School Patriots traveled to Thomasville last Friday for a state quarterfinal football game with the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets and brought a large and vocal crowd with them.

Criminals never seem to tire of finding new ways to rip people off. An approach being reported by Fayetteville Police is one where homeless people in business attire are being used here and across metro Atlanta to cash fraudulent company checks at local banks.

A variance request by Developers Diversified Realty Corp. for additional signage along Pavilion Parkway to help draw needed customers will be considered by the Fayetteville City Council at its Dec. 3 meeting.

Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith is a member of the state Water Contingency Planning Task Force charged with finding solutions to Georgia’s mandate by federal Judge Paul Manguson in July to reduce water levels in Lake Lanier by sending an additional 250 million gallons per day of Chattahoochee River water downstream to Alabama and Florida by 2012. Smith said any decision, at least for the short-term, is not expected to effect Fayette County’s water supply.

October unemployment numbers for Fayette County continued their incremental but steady climb that began last year. Data released late last week by the Georgia Dept. of Labor (DOL) show a rate of 8.5 percent, up two-tenths of 1 percent from September.

The Southern Crescent Tea Party Patriots will hold a meeting Thursday December 3 at 7 p.m. at J. Christopher’s Restaurant in the West Park Shopping Center in Peachtree City.

“Health Care Reform – What’s Next?” The Fayette-Coweta chapter of the Glenn Beck 9-12 Project is hosting a free admission meeting Dec. 8 from 7:00 – 8:15 p.m. in the lower-level meeting room of the Peachtree City Library, 201 Willowbend (s.e. corner of Hwy. 54 and Willowbend).

Three masked men held up the Rite-Aid store on Ga. Highway 74 and Palmetto Road Sunday night just before closing. No one was injured in the robbery.

It’s a sign of the times. A variance request by Developers Diversified Realty Corp. for additional signage along Pavilion Parkway to help draw needed customers will be considered by the Fayetteville City Council at its Dec. 3 meeting.

Part 2: Central Office

The Citizen recently reported on the classroom instruction aspect of “what makes Fayette County schools special.” But what about the central office aspect of the equation?

The U.S. Census Bureau Nov. 18 released the 2008 poverty estimates for every school district and county in the nation. Data for Fayette County showed more than 5 percent of children ages 5-17 living in families in poverty.

The Fayetteville City Council at its Nov. 19 meeting approved the hire of a consultant group to pursue a Livable Centers Initiative (LCI) supplemental grant that will focus on re-development in three targeted commercial areas.

The recent Flu-Free Schools pilot program conducted in several Fayette County elementary schools was so successful that school system staff want to repeat and expand it next year if possible.

The annual round of Christmas shopping cranks up on Friday. And Fayetteville Police are offering a number of crime prevention tips to help keep holiday shopping safer.

To some he is controversial. To others he is right on target. But regardless the opinions, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ray McBerry will bring his States’ Rights Tour to Peachtree City Tuesday night.

What began in a Nov. 12 public hearing as a request by Michael and Judy Cunningham to rezone 38.11 acres located along Lower Fayetteville Road and Ga. Highway 154 from Rural Conservation (RC) to C-7 (Commercial Major Shopping Center) and C-8 (Heavy Commercial District) ended Nov. 17 with a 4-0 vote to approve a lesser C-6 zoning that maintained all but a few of the original plan components.

Haylie Williams peers from behind a stargazer lily in her photograph that won first place, youth division, among 70,000 entries in the 2009 National Wildlife Foundation contest. The J.C. Booth eighth-grader used a Fuji FinePix camera to shoot the photo of the family garden flower while in a car with her parents, Julie and David Williams, on their way to an event that featured home-grown blooms. Her winning entry is online at www.nwf.org. Photo/Haylie Williams.

One of county’s largest food service operations, Piedmont Fayette stuck in low 80s on health inspections, including a 78 in February 2009

A cash cushion of more than $6 million for the Fayette County School System?

You read that right: State funding cuts, furloughs and decreased salaries notwithstanding, the Fayette County School System is in better shape financially this year than many expected.