On December 29 at about midnight, William Rochester and his daughter Emily’s home at 36 Slippery Rock Court in Sharpsburg burst into flames, taking with it their worldly possessions, but not their faith or their family.
According to William and Emily their survival and that of Emily’s little four-year-old daughter Karsyn is a miracle. While many are calling Emily a...
SPONSORED FEATURE
Dear Mark,
As the New Year begins, our family is reflecting on goals and priorities for the year ahead. Our son, a high school junior, is starting to feel the pressure of college admissions, and as parents, we want to support him without adding to his stress.
What tips can you share to help students like him set meaningful academic...
Well, folks — it’s 2025, and you know what that means.
It’s Election Year.
Next November, we’ll be voting for positions that arguably have a greater impact on our daily lives here in Peachtree City than those at the national level. So much of what affects us — roads, multi-use paths, police, fire services, and more — is shaped at the...
The Coweta County Board of Education will hold three public hearings in January which allow the board to consider opting out of the statewide adjusted base year ad valorem homestead exemption for the Coweta County School System.
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this matter to be held at the Board of Education Office, 167 Werz...
The City of Fayetteville will host a special Town Hall Meeting at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, to discuss the recently-passed Georgia House Bill 581. The meeting will take place in the City Hall Council Chamber, 210 Stonewall Avenue West.
House Bill 581, passed during the Georgia General Assembly 2024 Legislative Session and signed by Governor Brian Kemp,...
The recently-passed Georgia House Bill 581 will be one of the main topics of discussion during the City of Fayetteville’s next HOA/POA Meeting scheduled for Saturday, January 18, 2025, 9:30-11 a.m. The meeting will take place in the Council Chamber on the ground floor of Fayetteville City Hall, 210 Stonewall Avenue West.
The City hosts HOA/POA Meetings to foster information...
A few years ago, I transitioned from Starbuck’s regular to guest star to long lost customer twice removed. As a coffee enthusiast, rising costs forced me to make a hard decision as to where to spend my money. I made the decision to buy a travel mug and bring my coffee from home.
I chose my new brand based on...
As I write this it is January 6, 2025, which is Epiphany Day, which is the first day after The Twelve Days of Christmas. Fifteen years ago here in The Citizen I wrote an article on Epiphany Day. I’m offering basically that same article again today because of the often over-looked significance of Epiphany Day in our faith lives.
I...
According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle, A $17 billion proposal to construct 13 data centers in Coweta County has surfaced, highlighting the rapid expansion and land speculation transforming south metro Atlanta. This ambitious project, submitted as “Project Sail” by Atlas Development LLC, would significantly reshape the area near Newnan, underscoring the region's increasing role in the data economy.
According to...
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world’s most popular dance companies and America’s cultural ambassador to the world, returns to the Fox Theatre, February 12–16 for six exciting performances. Celebrating Legacy in Motion and the late, beloved Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison, the 2025 Atlanta engagement will feature the world premieres Sacred Songs by Interim Artistic Director Matthew Rushing, Finding...
I will take a deep breath and not buy every new plant I see at the nursery this year.
Since that is not going to happen, I’ll promise to plant whatever I buy right away.
I will try to find all the pruners and trowels I misplaced in the garden last year.
And speaking of tools, I am...
SPONSORED FEATURE
Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Company (YMMC) is pleased to announce that Robert (Bob) Brown has been appointed President, effective December 30, 2024. Bob succeeds Takahiro (Taka) Imanishi, who has returned to Japan to assume a new position after serving as President of YMMC since 2020. Bob's extensive background in manufacturing, his strong relationships within Yamaha, both globally and within...
I recently saw the new biopic about Bob Dylan called "A Complete Unknown" and was struck by something.
The movie focuses on the years 1961 to 1965, when Dylan first emerged on the scene, became a huge sensation, and then betrayed his folk-music fans and colleagues by "going electric" at the Newport Folk Festival.
The movie is extremely well done, deftly using...
Say “hello!” to Jodi. Jodi is an approximately 11-year-old tabby. She has a soft, sweet meow. Jodi would be so happy to leave the shelter and leap onto the spot next to you on the couch. She would thrive best in a calm, quiet environment. We’d love to introduce you to her and her friends at the Fayette County...
His kindness was his hallmark, so it is a sad loss for Peachtree City that Albert (Al) Novotnak passed on Sunday, December 22, 2024.
Al was born December 3, 1944 in the Munhall area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Andrew and Helen Novotnak, and was baptized at St. Anne’s Catholic Church in Homestead, Pennsylvania. His father worked in the steel mills,...
A sense of possibility is exactly what makes this season so ripe for building momentum. The pages of the calendar are crisp, and our hearts are full of hope for what might happen next. But let’s be honest, sometimes the future feels more like a giant question mark than a clear path.
How do you know where to go?
Lean Into...
I think it’s possible today that you could find out certain segments of news faster on social media. But an in-depth story, one with heart, one with details, that’s best told in an online newspaper.
That’s what I’ve tried to do in my last month as editor of The Citizen. Lori Neidlinger bared her soul to us as she told...
Southerners are a very “cousiny” people – we seem to have more kinfolks than anybody on earth. That is really not true, but we tend to stay put for generations at a time, so it is quite likely that descendants of a set of our third-great grandparents might be close friends in the community as well...
At Sandy Creek High School, the basketball program isn't about rebuilding but reloading. The Patriots, reigning two-time GHSA state champions, are poised for a potential three-peat as they power through the first half of the 2024-2025 season.
The Legacy of Excellence
Head Coach Jon-Michael Nickerson has become a household name in Georgia high school basketball. His brand of Patriot Basketball—smart, fast,...
After a manhunt involving K9 units, a drone, and tips from the public, Peachtree City Police captured a suspect who had fled a traffic stop on New Year’s Day, and put him and his passenger under arrest with felony charges.
A patrol officer was conducting routine traffic enforcement on Highway 74 and Kedron Drive in Peachtree City at about 6...
Jade Johnson ( 8 lbs, 4 oz, 21” long) was the first baby born at Piedmont Fayette Hospital in 2025. She arrived at 2:07 a.m. to parents Mark Mitchell and Jordan Johnson. Also pictured is delivery nurse D’Ashley Trammell, RN.
For the first column of the new year, instead of looking backwards for an idea, I’m looking forward, and instead of writing about me, this story is really about you...well, mostly. Now how can I possibly write such a story if we’ve never met? Well, Dear Reader, we actually have. Keep reading, and you soon will discover, like I...
Phillip “Phil” Gordon Pilcher, 78 of Senoia, Georgia passed away Sunday, December 29, 2024. He was born to Harry Maurice Pilcher and Betty Louise Whitten Pilcher in Bennettsville, South Carolina on Monday, April 8, 1946.
Phil graduated from Murphy High School and loved playing football. He worked many years at Jenkins Metal in Atlanta and retired from Spier Metal.
Phil is...
Most of us in Peachtree City realize how fortunate we are to have Piedmont Fayette Hospital. It’s one of the best in Georgia. In fact, that is why I ended up here years ago.
A decade ago, my wife and I were perfectly happy living in a beautiful house on Lake Jackson. After my retirement, I had been Chair of...
When I first moved to Peachtree City in early 1984, McIntosh Trail and Kelly Drive weren’t connected. Both dead ended at the spillway. Think about that for a minute. If you lived on Hip Pocket or in Clover Reach, you had to drive north on 74 to the 54/74 intersection, then take 54 East to Peachtree Parkway, then south...
At the December Coweta County School Board meeting, Superintendent Horton stated that Coweta has the lowest school tax milage rate in metro Atlanta (15.41 v 19.15 Fayette). Then Peachtree City Mayor Kim Learnard also referred to Peachtree City’s low milage in her editorial on these pages.
However, while there has been a few “new maths” since I was in school,...
You may have heard the sirens go off at around 4:30 in the morning on Sunday December 29. That’s because of a tornado warning for Fayette and Coweta Counties. The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-0 tornado touched down in Fayette County.
According to 11Alive, meteorologists from the weather service reported the storm near Starr’s Mill and Woolsey at...
At a little after midnight, we heard an explosion at our house. When we went outside to look, our neighbor’s home, at 36 Slippery Rock Ct. in Sharpsburg, Georgia, was engulfed in flames. The fire trucks had already arrived, but had not yet begun putting the flames out. I spoke to my neighbors, William Rochester and his daughter Emily...
QMany Bible app users looked up Philippians 4:6 and made this passage the most engaged verse of 2024, according to YouVersion founder and CEO Bobby Gruenewald.
The passage reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” (NIV).
Gruenewald believes this shows more people are likely to turn...
The City of Peachtree City provided a Town Hall style program decimating information on Tuesday, December 17th. Thank you! It was well done and allowed those of us attending to ask questions and see potential scenarios for Amendment 581 application.
The county should follow up with a similar offering so citizens can understand the impact on our overall real...
(For this story, I interviewed Al’s widow Donna and Al’s sister Dorothy this morning, as we worked together on his obituary. That obituary will follow in a day or two, after the family all has a chance to edit.)
When Al Novotnak, 80 of Peachtree City, got up in the very early morning of Sunday, December 22, 2024, his Sketchers...
Al Novotnak was found deceased this afternoon, on Friday, December 27, 2024. Six days ago, Al had wandered from home. It appears as though he walked just over half of a mile from his home, still in his subdivision.
According to Peachtree City Police Chief Janet Moon, he was found in the backyard of an unoccupied house in Interlochen subdivision...
Recently a friend was visiting and complimented me on my garden. I was surprised to hear her comments because winter is here, the flowers are gone, the trees are bare and I have a big list of things that need to be done before spring.
She looked at my garden and saw the beauty that was there. I looked and...
Clark David “Corky” Felker, Sr. passed away peacefully on December 24, 2024, in Fayetteville, Georgia. Born on May 3, 1939, in Louisville, Kentucky, Corky lived a life brimming with experiences, characterized by his unwavering curiosity, astute business acumen, and unwavering passion for competition.
His entrepreneurial spirit flourished as he owned and operated several NAPA stores, demonstrating a remarkable aptitude for...
