Author: Josh Akeman

This author has written 106 articles
Board of Elections will decide format of special election to replace Commissioner Coston

Board of Elections will decide format of special election to replace Commissioner Coston

The contentious question of how to conduct a special election to replace Commissioner Pota Coston will be determined next week by the Fayette County Board of Elections.
Fayette Newspapers reported this week on comments from County Administrator Steve Rapson that the county was leaning toward holding the special election under an at-large system, as opposed to the district voting system that Coston was elected under.
The county continues to contest the Fayette NAACP in court over district voting.
“Right now, because the district maps have been appealed, we’re assuming it would be an at-large election,” Rapson said Monday.
A decision (more…)

Continue Reading Board of Elections will decide format of special election to replace Commissioner Coston
County not planning to use district voting to elect Coston successor

County not planning to use district voting to elect Coston successor

State Senator Valencia Seay was critical of the opponents of district voting in her comments at the Prayer Vigil for Pota Coston last week.
State Senator Valencia Seay was critical of the opponents of district voting in her comments at the Prayer Vigil for Pota Coston last week.

The passing of County Commissioner Pota Coston presents a potentially messy political situation with regards to the special election that will be held to replace her on the board.

The county and school boards continue to prepare for a trial in their fight to undo the district voting system which was very likely crucial in Coston’s victory last November. The 11th District Court of Appeals decided in January to send the case back to the district (more…)

Continue Reading County not planning to use district voting to elect Coston successor
Hundreds attend vigil, pay tribute to Commissioner Coston

Hundreds attend vigil, pay tribute to Commissioner Coston

The county commission chamber was packed Thursday evening for the prayer vigil for Pota Coston, who has been moved to hospice care as she battles breast cancer. More than twenty speakers paid tribute to Coston, attesting to her enduring grace and her ability to connect with everyone she met. Many also described her tirelessness on the campaign trail, and her passion to achieve a role of sevice to the community, which she did when she became the first black Fayette County Commissioner this year. This photo of Coston is from her campaign last fall. (Photo by Dean Breest).
The county commission chamber was packed Thursday evening for the prayer vigil for Pota Coston, who has been moved to hospice care as she battles breast cancer. More than twenty speakers paid tribute to Coston, attesting to her enduring grace and her ability to connect with everyone she met. Many also described her tirelessness on the campaign trail, and her passion to achieve a role of sevice to the community, which she did when she became the first black Fayette County Commissioner this year. This photo of Coston is from her campaign last fall. (Photo by Dean Breest).

“The biggest (more…)

Continue Reading Hundreds attend vigil, pay tribute to Commissioner Coston
Fayetteville couple answering call to adopt four Haitian girls
Matt and Denise Clark with their new daughters, who they hope to bring home soon. Left to Right: Rose Kerline, Lavitha, Daphkar and Myrlanda.

Fayetteville couple answering call to adopt four Haitian girls

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28
Matt and Denise Clark with their new daughters, who they hope to bring home soon. Left to Right: Rose Kerline, Lavitha, Daphkar and Myrlanda.
Matt and Denise Clark with their new daughters, who they hope to bring home soon. Left to Right: Rose Kerline, Lavitha, Daphkar and Myrlanda.

Matt and Denise Clark were married in 2002. Both had been married before. Denise, a mother of four, had been divorced and moved to Georgia from Michigan. Matt’s wife had died six years earlier, at the age of 33, following a cancer diagnosis.

Matt has lost eight close (more…)

Continue Reading Fayetteville couple answering call to adopt four Haitian girls
Peachtree City hopes to get federal funding for congested Highway 54 corridor

Peachtree City hopes to get federal funding for congested Highway 54 corridor

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Peachtree City is looking to move forward with design plans for several intersections along the busiest corridor of Highway 54 with the hope that investing in designs now will net major federal grant funding later.

The traffic congestion in the area of the Highway 54/74 intersection has been an ongoing concern for the city for years. A study done last year recommended improvements for problematic intersections at Huddleston and 54, Planterra and 54, The Avenue and 54, and a few others.

One of the major changes coming to the corridor has already been approved by the state. The developer of (more…)

Continue Reading Peachtree City hopes to get federal funding for congested Highway 54 corridor
Piedmont Fayette moves first soil on $57-million hospital expansion
Piedmont Fayette CEO Michael Burnett did the heavy lifting himself, moving the first soil for a major new hospital expansion.

Piedmont Fayette moves first soil on $57-million hospital expansion

 

The official groundbreaking on a $57 million expansion for Piedmont Fayette Hospital called for a little more fanfare than your typical gold shovel and hardhat photo-op. With hundreds of community members and leaders watching, Piedmont Fayette CEO Michael Burnett rolled in on a front loader tractor to move the soil for the hospital’s largest expansion in years.

The expansion will greatly increase space for the Emergency Department, bringing “much needed relief” to one of the busiest in the Piedmont network of hospitals. Two new floors will be devoted to patient beds to allow for the conversion of existing semi-private (more…)

Continue Reading Piedmont Fayette moves first soil on $57-million hospital expansion
New PTC budget proposal nixes millage increase

New PTC budget proposal nixes millage increase

Following a second budget workshop, Peachtree City Council appears to be moving in the direction of a $33-million budget that includes no millage rate increase and uses the city’s cash reserves to at least triple the level of road maintenance over the prior year.

Interim City Manager Jon Rorie has emphasized the need to invest in “brand and infrastructure,” both of which would be served by accelerating the city’s road maintenance schedule which is well behind the pace it should be.

Rorie has observed that neglected street maintenance during the recession has left the city six or seven years behind (more…)

Continue Reading New PTC budget proposal nixes millage increase
Community leaders stand together against violence
Fayette County Sheriff Barry Babb speaks.

Community leaders stand together against violence

Leaders and members of the community came together Tuesday morning on the steps of the Fayette County Justice Center to present a unified voice against two recent, unrelated shootings that have left two young men dead and four others injured.
Leaders and members of the community came together Tuesday morning on the steps of the Fayette County Justice Center to present a unified voice against two recent, unrelated shootings that have left two young men dead and four others injured.

A cross section of Fayette County leaders gathered on the steps of the Fayette County Justice Center this morning to present a united voice in response to the two shooting deaths which rocked the community in recent weeks.

The Fayetteville Polcie Department and Fayette County Sheriff’s Office continue to investigate the two unrelated shootings which took the lives of two (more…)

Continue Reading Community leaders stand together against violence
County approves new sheriff’s training facility

County approves new sheriff’s training facility

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Above is the master plan for the 200-acre property which was formerly The Links golf course. The graphic was modified somewhat to highlight the locations of some of the proposed new training facilities for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. The plan also shows where the East Fayetteville Bypass is expected to pass through the property. The facility is expected to be primarily used for Fayette County law enforcement, to include Tyrone, Fayetteville, and Peachtree City Police Departments.

The Fayette County Board of Commissioners approved a master plan to build a $1.65 million training facility for the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office (more…)

Continue Reading County approves new sheriff’s training facility
GDOT touts effectiveness of roundabouts

GDOT touts effectiveness of roundabouts

The Fayette County Board of Commissioners hosted a public forum Tuesday with representatives from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) on the topic of roundabouts. There are two specific roundabout projects in the works for south Fayette County, but County Engineer Phil Mallon said that primary purpose of the meeting was to explain how roundabouts work and why the state has increasingly favored them for certain intersections. He described the meeting as a the equivalent of “Roundabout 101.”

“If we don’t walk out of this meeting all agreeing on the best course of action, I hope we can at least (more…)

Continue Reading GDOT touts effectiveness of roundabouts