Politics

Rep. Westmoreland votes against debt ceiling increase

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (nearest camera) at a recent U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing. Photo from his official website.

A majority of House Republicans may have voted for the recent U.S. debt ceiling increase, but Third District U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland was not among them.

The final bill failed to provide enough cuts to the deficit and left open the possibility of future tax increases, the Grantville, Ga., congressman said in a news release.

Westmoreland’s statement follows:

“When these negotiations began in January, I made a promise that I would not vote for any legislation that didn’t include significant spending cuts and absolutely no tax increases. Read More»

Brown: Budget may be issue for Hwy. 74/I-85 fix

One of the projects that stands to benefit the most from a potential regional sales tax is improvements to the interchange of Ga. Highway 74 and Interstate 85, just outside the Fayette-Fulton County line. Read More»

Parents, supporters happy with Senoia charter school decision

Parents and supporters of the Coweta Charter Academy could not be happier with the announcement July 14 that an arrangement brokered by Gov. Nathan Deal, members of the General Assembly and the Georgia Dept. of Education (DOE) will provide local funding dollars that will allow the school to re-open for grades K-4 in August for the 2011-2012 school year. Read More»

PTC Mayor Haddix slams Councilman Imker on ‘smoke and mirrors’ budget

PTC mayor says councilman flip-flopped on tax increases

A disagreement over City Council budgeting tactics now has Mayor Don Haddix on the offensive against fellow Councilman Eric Imker. In a letter to the editor in the July 20 edition, Haddix chides Imker for promising to avoid property tax increases when he ran for election in 2009, only to vote for a property tax increase in 2010. Read More»

What’s on regional SPLOST road list, and what’s not

A preliminary first round of cuts has trimmed some $116.8 million in Fayette County road improvement projects from the equation, at least for now, when it comes to potential funding with a regional sales tax that will be considered by voters in June 2012.

Making the cut were some $130.8 million in projects inside Fayette County, not including another $22.5 million for arguably the most significant congestion-relief project which would be just across the county line in Fairburn: improvements to the interchange of Ga. Highway 74 and Interstate 85. Read More»

PTC Judge Stephen Ott throws hat in ring for state court judge

Stephen Ott, city court judge for Peachtree City. File photo.

Local attorney Stephen Ott has announced he will seek election as Fayette County State Court Judge in the July 2012 non-partisan election.

New State Court Judge Carla Wong McMillian will be facing her first election then, as she was appointed to the bench in August 2010 by Gov. Sonny Perdue after her predecessor, Fletcher Sams, was appointed to an open slot as superior court judge for the Griffin Judicial Circuit, which includes Fayette. Read More»

After 1st cuts, Fayette in line for $320 million in T-SPLOST

Based on the first cut of a smorgasbord of proposed transportation projects announced July 7, Fayette County looks to be in line for about $320 million Read More»

Qualifying time ahead for candidates in F’ville, PTC and Tyrone

Time is approaching for those interested in throwing their hat in the ring for local political office. Qualifying for seats in Fayetteville, Peachtree City and Tyrone for the Nov. 8 municipal elections will begin in just over two months. Read More»

I-85/Hwy. 74 junction, East Bypass on 1st list for regional SPLOST funding

Having recently released a list of transportation projects for potential funding from a regional sales tax, area officials are hoping for feedback from local residents.

On Monday, June 20 at 6 p.m. a special “telephone town hall meeting” on the topic will be conducted by phone.

Several thousand residents will be called randomly and invited to join, but any citizen can participate by calling 1-888-886-6603 and entering PIN code 16723. The meeting is set to last one hour. Read More»

Rep. Ramsey expects tough immigrant law to survive court review

A lawsuit has been filed in hopes of nullifying the recent sweeping immigration reform law passed by the Georgia General Assembly and signed last month by Gov. Nathan Deal.

The suit was filed in federal court on behalf of a handful of civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the Service Employees International Union and others. Read More»