News

FCHS students set focus on career preparation

From left, front row: Shardaya Jones, Lisa Roque, Lauren Coachman, Tassia Drame, Kaylee Satterwhite, Gabrielle Hazard, and Farrukh Ali. Back row: Reezaan Bharwani, Josh Ward, Samir Davis, Esteban Rodriguez, Aaron Campbell, and Ian Douglas. Photo/Special.

CTAE (Career, Technical and Agricultural Education) students at Fayette County High took the month of February to explore the world of work and how to prepare for their future careers after graduation. Read More»

MHS students use science fair winnings to pay it forward

FIRST founders, from left, John Childers, Keaton Wimbish and Kyle Ewers (far right) with Jonathan Lewis. Photo/Special.

Three students with an interest in honeybees developed a science fair project last year that earned them a monetary award from the Tellus Science Museum at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair. Read More»

Fayette County arrests report — Feb. 25 – March 3

The following arrests were reported by local law enforcement agencies for the past week. All persons are considered innocent until proven guilty. Rather than indicating the age of those arrested, only the year of birth will be noted below due to law enforcement procedural changes.
 
Tuesday, Feb. 25 - Monday, March 3
 
Fayette County Sheriff’s Office
 
William G.
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Busted tail light leads to Senoia burglary arrest

A 35-year-old Juliette man was arrested March 3 on charges stemming from a Dec. 23 burglary and a July 26 attempted burglary at the Senoia Drug Company on Ga. Highway 16.

Rico Ussery was charged with burglary and attempted burglary, according to Senoia Investigator Jason Ercole.

Arrests warrants for burglary and attempted burglary have also been issued for 22-year-old North Carolina resident Denzel Kewon Poole, though Poole has yet to be taken into custody, Ercole said. Read More»

‘Drop Dead Diva’ wrapping up PTC production run

A cheerleader character on the sixth episode of ‘Drop Dead Diva’ storms off the court at McIntosh High School Thursday afternoon during the filming of a scene. The show has spent much of its annual $20 to $25 million budget locally, netting a significant impact. Photo/John Munford.

A little bit of Drop Dead Diva drama played out in the gym of McIntosh High School Thursday afternoon as a scene was filmed for the show’s sixth and final season on the Lifetime cable network.

Slated for airing on episode six, the scene featured the Atlanta Hawks cheerleaders in a scenario where a cheerleader gets into a tiff with another, pitches a pom-pom tossing fit and storms off the
court ... to the sarcastic applause of the audience at a basketball game. Read More»

Bedroom dresser cleanup yields $557K lottery ticket for F’ville mom of 3

Georgia Lottery winner Karen Wilkes, center, is pictured with her husband, Charlie, and one of her three daughters, a recipient of the Georgia Lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship. Photo/Ga. Lottery.

A Fayetteville mother of three daughters, all of whom are recipients of the Georgia Lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship, is making room for a big prize of her own.

Karen Wilkes, 50, won the $557,520 jackpot prize from the Dec. 19 Fantasy 5 drawing from matching all five of the winning numbers.

Wilkes and her husband, Charlie, were all smiles when she claimed the prize Feb. 27 at Georgia Lottery headquarters in Atlanta.

The couple, married 30 years, were cleaning off their bedroom dresser when they discovered the ticket. Read More»

ToonBoom in Tyrone — Fayette schools, Clayton State launch animation training pilot project

From left to right, ToonBoom’s Joan Vogelesang, Clayton State’s Janet Winkler, Fayette County Board of Education’s Lisa Collins. Photo/Clayton State University.

They were all gathered at Tyrone’s Sandy Creek High School on Mar. 4: the partners in a new venture with the long-term goal of creating a state model for animation training.

Clayton State University, the Emmy Award-winning Montreal-based ToonBoom Animation Inc., the Georgia Department of Education and the Fayette County Schools held a special event at Sandy Creek to announce an animation pilot project for Fayette County, and a partnership, “a partnership with a passion.”
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Coweta's shining STARs

Coweta's shining STARs

East Coweta High School student Yehong Zhu was named Coweta County’s 2014 STAR student on Feb. 28 at the annual STAR Student and Teacher luncheon hosted by the Newnan Rotary Club. Zhu, at center, stands with East Coweta Principal Evan Horton and her chosen STAR teacher Paula Corley. Corley teaches REACH (gifted) classes at White Oak Elementary School, and was Zhu’s fifth grade teacher. Zhu plans to study government at Harvard University after she graduates from East Coweta this spring. Photo/Special.

Judge under fire for reversing rape verdict

Visiting Appeals Court judge overturns jury decision, citing Down Syndrome victim’s behavior

A Georgia Court of Appeals judge has come under fire for setting aside a jury’s guilty verdict in a local rape case he presided over in September 2012, the first criminal trial he had ever conducted. Read More»

Appeals court overturns Judge Crawford’s dismissal of drug case

The Georgia Court of Appeals has overturned the dismissal of a case in Fayette County Superior Court involving a defendant accused of selling a counterfeit substance.

A panel of jurists determined that Superior Court Judge Robert “Mack” Crawford should not have dismissed the case for lack of prosecution because the district attorney’s office failed to present a witness during a pre-trial motion hearing. Read More»