Cooper Lighting, a division of Cooper Industries, Ltd., recently presented a corporate gift to the local United Way. A corporate match of approximately $15,000 was added to the $30,000 in pledges made by local Cooper Lighting employees. The $45,000 total marks the fifth consecutive year that Cooper Lighting has been the largest United Way contributor in Fayette County. That total also amounts to 22 percent of the $207,000 raised in the Fayette community.

Allstate Insurance Company is proud to announce the opening of a new agency in Brooks. Owned and operated by Cindy Costello, the full-service agency offers a complete line of products and services, including auto, property, commercial and life insurance.

Four students representing Crabapple Lane Elementary School recently wonhighest honors in this year's WordMasters Challenge - a national language arts competition entered by over 225,000 students annually.

Most English teachers might have their students explain literary characters and themes through essays, but a teacher at Starr’s Mill High is trying a different approach, quilting.

Fayette County board of elections members got a sneak peek at the new voting machines that will be used in a pilot program in three Georgia counties.

The Fayette County Democratic Committee (FCDC) will conduct the qualification process for Democratic candidates for local offices to appear on the July 18 Democratic primary election ballot. The FCDC encourages all local Democrats to consider public service on behalf of our community.

The Fayette County School System’s Exceptional Children’s Services and ExceptionalOPS will sponsor a resource fair for families of children with special needs.

The City of Fayetteville is working to update its Comprehensive Plan which will provide a guide to everyday decision making for use by local government officials and other leaders. An important part of the update is finding out which issues are important to Fayetteville residents and businesses.

FACTOR, Fayette County’s Family Connection collaborative, Fayette Elementary Schools and our county’s public libraries have partnered to “Frame the Future”

As families gather around this week to watch “The 10 Commandments” and celebrate Easter, Fayette County school officials are gearing up for teaching Bible classes next fall.

Piedmont Fayette Hospital’s emergency room has become so busy at times that hospital officials ask local paramedics to warn patients that service there might be slow.

In early September, Piedmont Fayette Hospital will be ready for another first.

That’s when three labor and delivery beds will go online, along with two separate rooms to handle Caesarean section births, said hospital spokeswoman Ryan Duffy. There will also be a nursery and a neonatal intensive care unit, both of which will be connected, Duffy said.

Fayetteville City Council April 6 voted 4-1 to increase water and sewer rates by 15 percent beginning June 1.

No question was posed by the public and virtually no discussion was entertained by the board.

Richard Jolly (L), owner of Pine Forest Gardens in Tyrone, and Makeda Johnson of the Peachtree City Recreation Department look over some of the native azaleas and hostas that will be on sale at the Spring Yard and Garden Show this Saturday at Shakerag Knoll from 10 a.m.

The residents of Shenandoah Estates in northern Fayette County say they are fed up with being treated like stepchildren.

The Peachtree City Council has voted to abandon a project to realign Huddleston Road with Dividend Drive in the city’s industrial park area.

Leave early for appointments, etc. in case you get stuck

The best way to avoid getting tangled up in traffic from the Tour de Georgia bike race Wednesday, April 19 is to know the route and avoid it entirely from about 1 p.m. to 2:30 or so.

The Fayette County Democrats will hold their monthly breakfast meeting on Saturday with breakfast starting at 10 a.m., at Chaps Restaurant in Tyrone. Meeting topics will include review of special election results and qualifying for candidates for November 2006 general election.

A medical fund has been established to help a Peachtree City man who has undergone a bone marrow transplant to combat leukemia.

The Fayette County Republican Party (FCRP) will conduct the qualification of candidates for local office who will appear on the July 18, 2006 Republican Party primary election ballot in Fayette County.

Long time Fayetteville resident Frances Reeves is being honored by 11 Alive television April 12 at 7:30 p.m. for a lifetime of volunteer service to the community.

Four future healthcare professionals from Starr’s Mill High placed second at the Georgia Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) Spring Leadership and Competitive Events Conference.

Oak Grove Elementary celebrated the importance of mathematics in our everyday lives with a daylong “Magic of Math” celebration March 30. The school’s Math Task Force, led by Instructional Support Teacher Lynn Shirley, sponsored the day.

Students at Sandy Creek High are among the best analytical readers in the nation, according to results from the WordMasters Challenge competition.

Thanks to the generosity of Fayette’s business community and individual donors, the Fayette County School System’s transportation department raised $2,000, the most in the cookout’s four-year history, to benefit the county’s military personnel stationed in Iraq.

The 2006 Special Olympics was more than a competition among athletes, it was a show of the true meaning of friendship among students of all abilities.

Kip Dunlap and Lauren Russell, seniors at Sandy Creek High School, received recognition for their successes as individual delegates representing Haiti and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) at the Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference in Baltimore, Maryland March 2-5.

Food, card games and puzzles helped students and their parents learn math at East Fayette’s first Family Math Night.

Last Minute Tax Tips

As the end of the tax filing season approaches IRS Spokesman Mark Green “suggests taxpayers to be aware of some helpful tax information during the rush”.

It’s going to take the contractor a little longer — at least a month — than initially planned to complete the widening of Ga. highways 54 and 34 from Peachtree City to Sharpsburg.