Published Friday, January 01, 2010
2009: The Year in Review
January
• Newnan’s DeAnna Pappas — former star of ABC TV dating series “The Bachelorette” — to co-host Lifetime’s “Get Married.”
• Bricks go in at Veterans Plaza in Newnan city park. By year’s end personalized bricks of supporters would fill spots in the plaza, and in November a statue honoring Medal of Honor winners is dedicated.
• County’s dial-a-ride transportation program in place, except for buses.
• Victim of fatal New Year’s Eve shooting south of Moreland identified as John Robert “J.R.” Brown, 18.
• Author Dot Moore delves into files of fellow writer the late Margaret Anne Barnes, researching “Murder in Coweta County” figure John Wallace.
• Rodney Brooks and Al Smith take seats on Coweta Commission.
• “Old Lindsey place” north of Senoia highlighted along original route of McIntosh Trail. Efforts underway to recognize trail as a Georgia Scenic Byway.
• Soldiers with Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade unit based at Jackson-Pless National Guard Armory prepare for summer deployment to Afghanistan.
• Newnan Church of Christ effort praying weekly for rain ends as drought eases.
• Coweta schools take residency affidavits, part of compliance with 1973 federal desegregation order.
• Paul Poole selected Coweta Commission chairman.
• Newnan native Mark Ritchie, Minnesota secretary of state, draws praise for leadership in U.S. Senate race recount that determined Democrat Al Franken received more votes than Norm Coleman.
• Coweta builder Richard Jason Veitch is indicted for felony murder for events July 27, 2008. Drywall worker Gaston Gonzales was shot and killed on Trammell Road in south Coweta at an under-construction home.
• Michelle Garner Hall is indicted in shooting death of husband John Brittson “Britt” Hall July 30, 2008. Kip Bernard Harris is indicted in July 16 shooting on Johnson Road of Senoia resident Leon Dennis.
• January foreclosures up 12.8 percent. Coweta Homeless Task Force forms.
• Milling before repaving of East Broad Street makes for a bumpy ride.
• Development Authority says Coweta still in running for “Project Care,” a cancer hospital that could bring 400 jobs.
• Memorial program, parade celebrate memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
• The Times-Herald’s longest serving employee, Joel Hyde, retires after 47 years.
• Robert “Bobby” Lee elected chairman to fill Hershall Norred’s vacancy on Newnan Water, Sewerage and Light Commission.
• Construction proceeds on new Richard Brooks Elementary, Coweta School System’s 19th elementary school to open in fall 2009. Redistricting is approved.
• The “other” Alan Jackson, student at Newnan High School, performs concert at Centre for Performing and Visual Arts after “American Idol” auditions.
• Newnan seeks architect to design new police facility.
• Captain Tony Grant of Coweta Sheriff’s Office and wife Crystal claim $2.5 million win from lottery “Millionaire Jumbo Bucks” game.
• Planned Starship adult novelties and gifts store misses target opening near Thomas Crossroads. The company, denied a business license, and Coweta County would be in court later in 2009.
• Don Chapman named Coweta Citizen of the Year at ceremonies sponsored by Newnan Kiwanis Club. Presenting award is 2008 recipient Robin Tornow.
• Suspect arrested in Oct. 27, 2008, home invasion in Line Creek Cove subdivision in northeast Coweta.
• Newnan convention center plan on hold due to economy.
• Jobless benefits claims spike.
• Cowetans Willie Boyd and Josh Hickman attend inauguration of Pres. Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. Locals gather at Clay-Wood Community Center and move to Newnan Water and Light cabin off Roscoe Road to view historical event.
• Georgia Regional Transportation Authority to relocate Xpress Bus lot off Ga. Hwy. 34 E. on Hollz Parkway.
• Coweta Animal Control quarantined due to parvo virus.
• Newnan trial set for Dr. Phil Astin III, Carrollton physician accused of illegally dispensing prescription drugs to patients including WWE wrestler Chris Benoit, leading up to Benoit murder/suicide in Fayetteville June 22, 2007. Astin pleads guilty Jan. 29.
• Elizabeth Beers and Ray DuBose honored by Main Street — Beers for efforts to place Oak Hill Cemetery on the National Register and to recognize Chalk Level neighborhood.
• Hogansville timber magnate Holland Ware offers Forestar $535 million for land, including thousands of acres in Coweta.
• Georgia Supreme Court upholds murder conviction of Charles Travis Manley in 1987 death of Vieng Phovixay.
• Coweta Commission passes tighter obscenity ordinance and new ordinance regulating sexually oriented businesses. Starship President and CEO Kelly Rogers, working to open adult novelties store near Thomas Crossroads, at meeting.
• Sony Pictures asks Newnan City Council for permission to film for movie “Zombieland,” starring Woody Harrelson. Get Low Productions asks to film movie with such stars as Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek at Temple Avenue home of Gandy Glover.
• School nurse cuts opposed.
• Yokogawa awarded U.S. Defense contract.
• Replacement of copper on historic Coweta Courthouse delayed after weather damage to wood tower structure found.
• Speed limit dropped to 50 through Coweta with planned February lane shifts on I-85 widening project.
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February
• Recording artist and Newnan native Hamilton Bohannon gives students a special look at music history with his new audio book, sharing his life story.
• Newnan Mayor Keith Brady confirms he will seek a fifth term in 2009 fall municipal elections.
• Russian translator of “Gone With the Wind” visits Sharpsburg GWTW collector Herb Bridges.
• Bill Murray, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek in Newnan as “Get Low” cameras roll.
• Traffic signal approved at Poplar Road and bypass.
• Senoia names Jason Edens police chief.
• February foreclosures up 24 percent from year before.
• A 52-year-old Lithia Springs hunter’s body is found in remote section of Chattahoochee Bend State Park land.
• Starship makes demand for a business license for proposed adult store at Thomas Crossroads.
• Donald Sprayberry Jr. of Newnan’s famous Sprayberry’s Barbecue is interviewed by a Chinese television channel that became interested in the fourth-generation enterprise.
• D&H begins hiring for new Coweta warehouse.
• Atlanta Falcons linebacker Keith Brooking, who hails from Senoia, visits Arnco-Sargent Elementary; students praised for helping his foundation’s Locker 56 program.
• State budget cuts impact Area Agency on Aging in-home services for elderly.
• Annual Run for Angels in Newnan raises funds for Angel’s House children’s shelter.
• Number of immigrant workers in Coweta appears to be dwindling due to economy.
• Scott Tigchelaar of RiverWood Studios in Senoia praises state’s movie incentives as film production crews are pouring into Coweta.
• Newnan-Coweta Habitat for Humanity plans Lutheran build groundbreaking for March 7.
• Goodwill announces plans to expand, add career center to Newnan store in Shenandoah Plaza.
• Rite Aid, with distribution centers in Newnan, feeling economic pinch.
• Bank presidents Mike Barber of First Coweta and Bucky Kimsey of Neighborhood Community are replaced.
• Newnan City Council approves filming for Sony Pictures TV production “The Wronged Man” in downtown in early March.
• A Veterans Administration Clinic is announced for location off Hwy. 34 E.
• Julie Raschen is named principal of new Richard Brooks Elementary, set to open in fall.
• Beloved Senoia resident and former hardware store proprietor Jimmy Hutchinson dies.
• Willie Andrew Gibbs Jr., 35, dies from shooting wounds.
• Hospital Authority gives one-time allotment of $150,000 to Coweta Health Department to help from state budget cuts.
• The late Bert Atkinson, a pioneer aviator buried in Newnan, is inducted into Georgia Aviaton Hall of Fame.
• Coweta School System cancels teacher job fair; with budget crunch staff for new school to be shifted from within system.
• Among topics at a Newnan City Council retreat, a sprayground is suggested to replace Lynch Park pool. By late 2009 plans would switch back to a new pool after requests from surrounding community.
• Word at city retreat is that Carnegie renovation for a reading room to be complete in August.
• Grantville City Council names the Griffin Street recreation building The Willie L. Clements Jr. and John A. Malcolm Community Center.
• In mid February work resumes replacing cupola copper at Coweta County Courthouse.
• Plan to vaccinate animals coming into Coweta Animal Control facility discussed, Coweta Commission gives approval.
• Coweta native the late Timothy Cole Jr. to be inducted into Dustoff Hall of Fame.
• Coweta Sports Hall of Fame inducts Danny Cronic, Weddington Kelley, Steve Bedrosian and Tim Clark.
• Cathy Mendenhall McNaughton, 54, found dead in home on Portage Lane in north Coweta. Autopsy shows she was stabbed to death.
• Neighborhood Community and First Coweta banks on “Texas ratios” list.
• Vandals do $100,000 in damage to Turin cemetery, juveniles found responsible.
• Storm drops hail larger than golf balls on north Coweta.
• 2,000 birds expected at Chattahoochee Valley Poultry Association show at Coweta Fairgrounds.
• Coweta ditches satellite health department plan for $1.5 million Jackson upgrade. That plan would later turn into plans for a new health department on Hospital Road land owned by county.
• Twin brothers Robert and Rhodes Skinner south of Moreland are among those losing homes as an EF2 tornado strikes southern Coweta County.
• Charter company makes proposal for charter school in Senoia area.
• West Central Technical College plans to develop a new stand-alone campus in Coweta, with first phase financed by college’s foundation. WCTC would merge with LaGrange-based West Georgia Technical College July 1 — it is now West Georgia Technical College.
• Hobby Lobby to fill space in Newnan Crossing East vacated with Belk move to Ashley Park. Belk soft opening March 7.
• McIntosh Village sewer planning ongoing.
• Coweta State Court Solicitor Robert Stokely seen moonlighting at a Wendy’s restaurant, makes national headlines.
• Alec Bryant McNaughton, 60, is arrested in Feb. 15 stabbing death of his wife.
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March
• Piedmont Newnan Hospital officials announce that economic uncertainties continue to keep construction of new Poplar Road hospital on hold.
• Early March brings Coweta a wintry mix with about three inches of snow accumulating on roads.
• A stuck DTI Logistics Inc. transfer truck’s trailer load is split in half by a northbound CSX train, scattering Wendy’s restaurant food bags along U.S. 29 at Walt Sanders Road near Madras.
• Senoia police are involved in a shooting that leaves two residents hospitalized for gunshot wounds.
• Coweta County Board of Commissioners agrees to offer $70,000 to county’s Board of Health to help health department avoid furloughs.
• Film crews come to Newnan to shoot portions of “The Wronged Man,” starring Julia Ormond.
• Development Authority officials announce that Coweta is in the running for a rumored cancer treatment hospital.
• Three “shovel ready” projects totaling $7.8 million come to Coweta County as a result of federal stimulus funding.
• Newnan police probe the death of 42-year-old Warren Keith who was shot in the Milton Avenue area.
• Two rays of sunshine peek through the dark economic clouds as new businesses Food Lion, and Belk at Ashley Park open.
• Cyclist Brandon Storey loses his life in a motorcycle crash on Martin Mill Road in south Coweta.
• Coweta Magistrate Judge James Stripling rules there is probable cause to believe Alec Bryant McNaughton murdered his wife Cathy Mendenhall the previous month. His case is bound over to Superior Court.
• The Newnan High Cougars Boys Basketball team makes it to the state semifinals, but lose to Milton 64-53.
• Ex Grady Hospital Doctor Adam Lebowitz enters a not guilty plea in the March session of Coweta Superior Court for allegedly soliciting sex from Coweta minor he had met on the Internet.
• Newnan Police take suspect Fred Hill into custody for the shooting of a woman in her vehicle.
• Coweta’s historic 1904 Courthouse gets a shiny, new copper weather vane as work continues to refurbish the structure.
• The state Department of Transportation holds up Coweta’s dial-a-ride program due to budget issues.
• The United Way cuts staff in Coweta due to the Atlanta United Way’s budget, and restructuring to support the organization’s five year strategic plan.
• Hannah Gravitt and Emily Stephens are named Newnan and Coweta’s Junior Misses in the program’s annual pageant.
• Coweta County’s Board of Health raises its inspection fees to help cope with the budget crisis.
• Dianne Parker of Newnan is named the newest member of the Newnan Water, Sewerage and Light Commission.
• Coweta County’s population is estimated to be 122,924, according to the latest figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Dedication ceremonies are held for the renovated Grantville ballpark.
• The Georgia state budget includes a proposed issuance of $8.48 million in bonds to start the building process for a technical college campus in Coweta County.
• Members of a new local conservation group urge Coweta residents to bring back the Victory Garden, a part of everyday American life in the 1940s.
• Georgia Department of Natural Resources begins to consider placing limits on hunting days in Chattahoochee Bend State Park in 2009 and 2010.
• Two south Coweta residents are assaulted by armed attackers during a home invasion. Two suspects are later identified.
• Senoia resident Paul R. McKnight Jr., 83, dies at his home. McKnight a civic and business leader had played a pivotal role in the peaceful desegregation of the county’s schools.
• The City of Newnan begins exploring the idea of a community garden.
• Hundreds of quilters from across Georgia stop in Newnan for the tenth annual Greater Atlanta Shop Hop.
• Sue Brown, Charles Wadsworth and Carol Harless are each awarded the Richard Brooks Visionary Award of Distinction at the Centre for Performing and Visual Arts, recognizing those who have contributed significantly to the arts.
• Carol Duffey is named Keep Newnan Beautiful’s new executive director.
• Honda stockpiles minivans at the Adesa Auctions site at Sharpsburg-McCollum as sales nationwide drop for the auto maker.
• A packed house attends the 80th birthday celebration concert by Newnan native and acclaimed composer and musician, Charles Wadsworth.
• The Court Square becomes “Zombieland” for the filming of the Sony Pictures’ movie.
• An effort is launched to give Georgia National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade Bravo Company a big sendoff to Afghanistan.
• Kip Bernard Harris enters a guilty involuntary manslaughter plea in Coweta County Superior Court in the 2008 shooting death of Leon Dennis.
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April
• Coweta officials learn the Poplar Road interchange on Interstate 85 has been given a project number by the Georgia Department of Transportation.
• Lisa Johnston is named executive director of Certified Literate Is Coweta’s Key, a local literacy organization.
• Rite-Aid announces plans to close its local distribution center.
• Joseph Chad Taylor, 36, is arrested for the murder of 19-year-old Susan Elizabeth Weaver.
• Newnan-Coweta Historical Society announces plans to expand the Atlanta & West Point Railroad depot complex.
• Local gun dealers see a surge in sales because of fears about possible gun purchase restrictions.
• Col. Joe M. Jackson, Newnan native and Medal of Honor recipient, escorts Pres. Barack Obama for Medal of Honor ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery.
• Newnan Community Theatre Company recognizes Dale Lyles for 25 years of service to the organization.
• The county firing range is named for the late Jimmy Scogin, who was killed in the line of duty while working for the county in 2007.
• Ashley Brenetta Florence, a teacher’s assistant at Northgate High, is arrested on charges of a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student.
• Members of 48th Infantry Brigade Bravo Company Second Battalion enjoy time with their families before departing for Mississippi en route to Afghanistan.
• Connie Psathas is charged with embezzling $200,000 from Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation.
• John J. Young, Coweta County native and longtime Pentagon official, is recognized by the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• A Tea Party group holds a demonstration on April 15, the day income tax returns are due.
• Local builder Jason Veitch is cleared of murder for the shooting of a Latino immigrant at a work site.
• The Salvation Army holds its regional spring concert at Wadsworth Auditorium.
• Police are alerted of a door-to-door scam fraudulently using the name of Community Welcome House, a local center for abused women.
• Criterion Referenced Competency Tests are given to 3,522 Coweta County School System students.
• Angela Brown, who teaches fifth graders at Ruth Hill Elementary School, is named Coweta County’s Teacher of the Year.
• County officials take a fresh look at plans for the new Coweta County Health Department facility.
• Lee Middle School student Jay Warner, 14, is honored for his quick thinking when bus driver Donna Mitchell became ill.
• Cargill employees clear debris and pick up trash at Whitlock Park and along White Oak Creek in observance of Earth Day.
• Public safety officials from across the region spend a week in Newnan for the annual Mantracker training.
• University of Georgia Press publishes “What Virtue There Is In Fire,” a book by Hogansville native and scholar Edwin Arnold, about the 1899 lynching of Sam Hose in Coweta County.
• U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland says he will not run for governor.
• The University of West Georgia begins offering courses for a master’s degree in criminology at the UWG Newnan Center.
• Local “Smokey and the Bandit” fan Tyler Hambrick joins with other fans from Michigan and Pennsylvania to create a replica trailer for the annual Bandit Run.
• Events during Public Safety Appreciation Week honor local police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and other emergency workers.
• Signs are placed on Lower Fayetteville Road designating the Newnan/ Coweta Veterans Memorial Parkway — a project spearheaded by local veteran Glenn Bexley.
• Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C. honors Dr. Gerald S. Troutman with its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
• Coweta County’s Emergency Management office is notified of possible new dangers from swine flu.
• “High School Musical” is presented by students at Newnan High School.
• Erin DiPirro, a student from Arnall Middle School, receives the Norah McGraw Outstanding Achievement Award at Coweta Special Olympics at Newnan High School’s Drake Stadium.
• Coweta County’s B.T. Brown Water Treatment Plant is designated as the best operated in the state by the Georgia Association of Water Professionals.
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May
• First suspected case of H1N1 “Swine Flu” in Coweta is investigated by state.
• More than 300 cancer survivors expected at Relay for Life.
• Public safety employees enjoy annual lunch in their honor.
• Inspirational concert sponsored by Newnan Presbyterian Church held in Greenville Street Park.
• Newnan-Coweta Magazine wins five GAMMA awards.
• Even after new signs erected, second big truck in two months gets stuck on Walt Sanders Drive at Hwy. 29 north.
• West Central Technical College announces $8 million capital gifts campaign.
• First students graduate from State University of West Georgia Newnan campus’ MBA program.
• Roundabout at Greison Trail and East Broad Street declared accident-free after first six months of operation.
• Heavy thunderstorm downs trees, leaves hundreds of Cowetans without power.
• Coweta schools announce layoff of 40 teacher aides to deal with budget shortfall.
• Coweta County Board of Health announces it will receive $1.5 million from Coweta County Hospital Authority to build new facility on Hospital Road.
• McIntosh Village development in East Coweta sold to Utah group with links to Mormon church.
• Economic concerns a major focus as locals celebrate National Day of Prayer.
• East Coweta’s Echostage players perform “Fame” at Centre for Performing and Visual Arts.
• American Lung Association gives Coweta County an “F” for ozone pollution.
• Local humane societies form coalition to consolidate and improve services.
• Senoia Memorial Fountain honoring Sam Channell, Jim Baggarly Jr., Tom McKeehan and Jimmy Hutchinson is dedicated.
• New career center operated by Goodwill industries opens.
• Local habitat for Humanity chapter moves into new office on Pine Rd.
• Coweta school officials eye four-day summer work week to cut costs.
• Carrollton physician Dr. Phil Astin sentenced in Newnan to ten years in prison for illegally providing prescriptions to pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who was found dead at his Fayette County home in 2007 after apparently murdering his wife and son.
• Cowetans travel to state welcome center in West Point to welcome visitors.
• Community raises more than $3,000 to bring home local soldiers for last visit before deployment to Afghanistan.
• Southtowne Chrysler and John Cullen Chrysler among 13 Georgia Chrysler dealerships closed after Chrysler bankruptcy filing.
• Coweta students score higher than region and state average on graduation test.
• Newnan teen Sasha Medina killed in small plane crash in Alabama while returning from Florida, where he and friends had delivered a car to a friend. Fulton County Juvenile Court Judge Sammy Jones, pilot of the plane, was also killed. Local teens Sarah Conklin and Joshua Rumohr are injured in crash.
• Newnan Police traffic stop on I-85 nets $1 million cash in huge drug bust.
• Newnan native Cathy Lee Phillips named Georgia Author of the Year by the National League of American Pen Women.
• Northgate High’s Backstage Players present “Oklahoma.”
• Coweta County Water and Sewerage Authority announces water usage down 26 percent for year.
• Georgia regional transportation plan shows widening of Hwy. 154 in Coweta not scheduled until 2030.
• Chinese delegation visits Coweta to inspect potential industrial property.
• Nine-year-old boy charged in stabbing of his 16-year-old sister.
• Smoking in bed believed to be cause of fire at Foxworth Forest Apartments.
• Vandals strike buildings in Old Town Sharpsburg.
• Two residences destroyed in separate Arnco, Sargent fires.
• West Georgia Technical College announces new facility to be built on donated land just north of Orchard Hills Golf Club.
• Coweta County Business Occupation Tax Rate Review and Appeals Committee votes 4-2 to grant license for Starship adult novelty store. Ruling recommends that county commission overturn earlier decision to deny Starship business license for Thomas Crossroads store.
• Canongate area residents oppose construction of fueling station at county fire station on Fischer Road.
• Local veterans honored at Jackson-Pless Armory by Newnan High School students.
• New Veterans Plaza dedicated in Newnan City Park at corner of Jackson Street and Temple Avenue.
• TV series “Drop Dead Diva” approved for filming in several Coweta locations.
• More than 1,125 seniors earn diplomas from local high schools.
• Region unemployment rate hits 10.8 percent.
• City of Newnan votes to align Roscoe and Sprayberry Roads, create new intersection.
• Lawsuit claims funds in Hollis estate mishandled by former estate executor Mayo Royal.
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June
• Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation honors restoration of Senoia home.
• After area homeowners protest, Coweta Commission decides against building fueling station at Fischer Road fire station near Canongate.
• Coweta County returns $114,000 in impact fees to developers of Hwy. 34 east property.
• Senoia considers package liquor sales.
• Northgate wins state AAAA baseball championship.
• Coweta schools cut 14 tech positions to save money.
• Engineering approved for Poplar Road I-85 interchange.
• Coweta County Fire Department orders seven new engines.
• Authorities seek Sharpsburg man missing for two weeks.
• Book sale announced to help Ferst Foundation provide free books to children.
• Coweta County Development Authority cuts its annual budget.
• Newnan grandmother wins large lottery prize.
• More than 100 Senoia residents show up to express wishes for future direction of town.
• Coweta County Development Authority investigates potential new revenue sources at Newnan-Coweta Airport.
• Local Masons promote child identification program.
• Lutherans help build Habitat for Humanity home in Grantville.
• Sharpsburg investigates possible revisions of alcohol ordinance.
• State congratulates local education officials on Coweta CRCT progress in math, science.
• Moreland officials vow to make repairs to old mill building.
• Developers ask City of Newnan for reimbursement of street light fees in Summerlin subdivision.
• Times-Herald wins ten awards in Georgia Press Association Better Newspapers Contest.
• Grantville may be in line for stimulus funds for sewer work.
• Coweta man arrested, charged with computer porn violations. Girl, 16, may be one of victims.
• Runaway truck severely injures man on Pinson Street.
• Sharpsburg officially proposes changes to alcoholic beverage ordinance.
• Sharpsburg begins push to attract more shoppers.
• Northgate robotics student Thomas Broadwater remembered by classmates after passing away from complications of cystic fibrosis.
• Coweta school officials rule that six unexcused absences will result in a visit from sheriff’s department.
• State watering restrictions eased, Coweta follows suit.
• Runaway rail car rolls through downtown Senoia, no one hurt.
• Officials announce that Coweta Park/Ride lot in line for stimulus funds.
• D&H Distributing opens Coweta warehouse capable of shipping 40,00 orders per day from 476,000-sq. ft. facility.
• Local residents oppose sewer plan for retail, commercial facilities near Thomas Crossroads.
• Coweta receives $1.6 million in stimulus funds for local road projects.
• First annual “Wine About the Economy” event held in downtown Newnan.
• Groundbreaking for Chattahoochee Bend State Park expected in September.
• Ga. DOT loses paperwork for local dial-a-ride program.
• Sharpsburg investigates creation of municipal court.
• Haralson announces it will celebrate Independence Day on July 5.
• Amy Mapel hired as Carnegie media coordinator.
• Public sewer service approved for Thomas Crossroads area through deal between county and group named PEG.
• Starship adult novelty store denied license for Thomas Crossroads location. Owner vows to appeal.
• Arbor Springs developers announce plans to run line to connect to county sewer system.
• Coweta County Water and Sewer department moves to former Ply-Mart building on Corinth Road.
• Newnan native Alan Jackson wins CMT Award for “Country Boy” video.
• Ga. Department of Transportation asked to include Coweta in area covered by state’s emergency towing service.
• CEC students assist with renovation of new Habitat for Humanity headquarters facility.
• Cancer Treatment Centers of America announces plans to build new cancer hospital in Coweta across from Ashley Park lifestyle center. A ruling on the hospital’s Certificate of Need from the state expected in late December.
• CEC charter renewed by state.
• Contract awarded for Newnan bypass widening.
• Walking tour developed for Oak Hill Cemetery.
• One killed in fatal crash between truck, car on I-85.
• Demolition begins on Lenny’s Pub to make way for intersection improvements at Roscoe and Sprayberry Roads.
• Carolina team helps build church addition in Moreland.
• Brown Steel files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• Neighborhood Community Bank shut down by federal regulators. Reopens as Charter Bank.
• Coweta Board of Education denies petition for new charter school in Senoia.
• Officials announce Newnan native Alan Jackson will get a star on Hollywood Blvd. Walk of Fame.
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July
• Supporters of a pool in Lynch Park appear before the Newnan City Council to ask the council to build a swimming pool, not a spray park, to replace the crumbling pool at the park.
• Charter Schools USA says it is not giving up after its plan for a charter school in Senoia was voted down by the Coweta County Board of Education.
• The Times-Herald’s owners Billy and Marianne Thomasson are honored by the Coweta chapter of the American Red Cross.
• Coweta’s dial-a-ride service transports its first rider July 1.
• The Coweta County Sheriff’s Office investigates two unrelated deaths of men in their 20s, one in Arnco and one in Sharpsburg.
• The historic Hollis home on Nimmons Street, left to the city of Newnan to be used as a furniture museum, is put up for sale.
• The Coweta County Water and Sewerage Authority announces it will enter into an agreement with a group of investors to run a sewer line to serve the Thomas Crossroads area.
• A visit to Georgia, and Coweta County, by a Chinese orchestra is canceled because of fears about the H1N1 “swine” flu.
• Coweta-based Georgia Army National Guard soldiers complete their first mission in Afghanistan.
• Independence Day festivities are held throughout Coweta County.
• Coweta Community Food Pantry announces that food is quickly running out because so many people are in need.
• Newnan’s “pothole patrol” had fixed more than 300 potholes since May.
• Officials rule that the death of John Sims from a gunshot was accidental.
• A request for an expansion of a permitted decentralized wastewater treatment system along Posey Road is withdrawn.
• The BelAir Family Center, which has been operating as a temporary home for homeless families, begins a fundraising brick project.
• Sharpsburg Mayor Derrick McElwaney announces he will resign at the end of the year.
• The Coweta County Board of Commissioners votes to cut tall grass at intersections when it is a safety issue.
• A 38-year-old woman is arrested for statutory rape of a 15-year-old boy.
• The president of West Georgia Technical College asks the county to help pave the road leading to the proposed new campus north of Orchard Hills golf course.
• Coweta’s CRCT scores are above the state average.
• Greg Wright is named president of the Coweta County Development Authority.
• College interns work with the city of Newnan to digitally map the Oak Hill and Eastview cemeteries.
• Two soldiers from Newnan-based Bravo Company, Mark Allen and Charles Benson, are wounded in Afghanistan.
• Utility companies are given a notice to proceed with utility relocation for the long-awaited widening of the Ga. Hwy. 34 bypass.
• The charter for Odyssey School in Coweta is renewed for two years.
• Laura Westbrook, owner of a vegetable stand near the intersection of U.S. 29 and Hal Jones Road, enlists customers to help prevent closing of the stand because of the pending intersection improvement project.
• Evans and Lee Middle Schools fail to make “adequate yearly progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
• The Coweta County Board of Education announces that, after a student has five unexcused absences, parents will receive warrants to appear in court.
• Alec McNaughton is indicted for the murder of his wife, Cathy.
• A town hall meeting for Coweta’s Board of Commissioners third district is held at Madras Middle School.
• Construction on the Greenville/ Spence intersection improvement is set to begin.
• A multi-agency drug roundup begins.
• Charter Schools USA votes to appeal the denial of a charter to the state.
• The Newnan City Council strikes down plans for a community garden at the former Harper’s Farm subdivision.
• Newnan officials investigate the possibility of arson related to two fires at vacant homes.
• The Coweta Board of Education is questioned over teacher furloughs; the board also votes not to dip into the system’s reserve funds.
• Attorneys representing adult store Starship file suit against Coweta for denying a business license to the store.
• Restoration of Newnan’s former Carnegie Library is set to be complete by mid-August.
• Signs honoring Cowetans Donald Lowery and Tim Cole, who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, are erected along Happy Valley Circle, where both men grew up.
• Sheriff’s deputies arrest two men in a gang shoot-out on Howard Hughes Road. Two suspects are still sought.
• Gov. Sonny Perdue visits Coweta to kick off the sales tax holiday for school supplies.
• The Coweta County Library Board of Trustees votes to do away with one late night per week at the Powell, Central, and Senoia libraries to reduce costs.
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August
• The northbound off-ramp at Interstate 85 and Bullsboro Drive is closed two days for construction.
• Roxie Clark, longtime Coweta county employee and assistant administrator, retires.
• The Coweta Adopt A Soldier program to send care packages overseas gets its start.
• A five-hour stand-off on Longwood Lane ends peacefully.
• Coweta County Sheriff’s Office seizes more than a pound of cocaine, and arrests a murder suspect wanted in Fulton County, following a traffic stop on Interstate 85.
• Three teens are arrested for thefts near Moreland.
• Filming of Lifetime network’s “Drop Dead Diva” returns to Coweta, with scenes at Ashley Park and a home on West Washington Street.
• Coweta Sheriff’s Investigator Todd Lengsfield is arrested and charged with child molestation for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old female.
• Coweta County officially transfers ownership of the Newnan Center of the University of West Georgia to the university system.
• The county commission has contractors cut grass at three foreclosed homes and files liens against the properties; the commissioners also postpone moving forward with design and engineering for the Brown’s Mill Battlefield Park citing budget concerns.
• The 2009 school year begins; new school Brooks Elementary opens.
• Magistrate Judge Joseph Wyant pitches a drug court to the county commission.
• A man is killed when he loses control of his truck on Jefferson Street and crashes into the 75 Jackson Street complex.
• Deputies seize 10 marijuana plants they discovered in a garden when they went to serve civil papers.
• Newnan auto dealers benefit from the Cash for Clunkers program.
• Clearing work for the Ga. Hwy. 34 bypass widening begins.
• All Coweta schools make adequate yearly progress after re-tests.
• Piedmont Newnan Hospital CEO Michael Bass tells the Newnan Kiwanis Club that the new hospital should be ready to open by fall 2011.
• The 15th annual Turin Tractor Parade and Pull, and street dance, are held in Turin.
• Christopher Loren, 25, is charged with child abuse that sent his 3-moth-old son to intensive care.
• A traffic signal goes into operation at the intersection of Poplar Road and the Newnan Bypass.
• The Newnan Police Department receives 15 M16 rifles through a military surplus program.
• A dedication ceremony is held for Brooks Elementary.
• A forum on health care reform is held at the Coweta County Fairgrounds.
• Protesters from the Georgia School for the Deaf, and others, demonstrate outside the offices of Newnan attorney Gary Brown, bankruptcy trustee for School Superintendent Kathy Cox and her family. Demonstrators were concerned that the $1 million Cox won on the game show “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader” would go to creditors rather than the schools for the deaf.
• The county commission asks staff members to construct an ordinance that would prohibit the long-term tethering of dogs.
• Trevor Crawford pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in the accidental shooting death of his friend, John Robert Brown Jr. Crawford is sentenced to five years unsupervised probation.
• Gubernatorial Candidate John Oxendine holds a fair tax townhall meeting in Newnan.
• First Coweta Bank is shut down by the FDIC. It reopens as United Bank.
• Coweta County Development Authority approves $17 million in tax-exempt bonds for Gregory Packaging.
• Newnan City Council approves plans for a new swimming pool at Lynch Park at Wesley Street and Richard Allen Drive.
• The first round of auditions for a talent show fund-raiser for the Coweta chapter of the American Red Cross begins.
• A pandemic flu seminar, featuring officials with the Centers for Disease Control, is held in Newnan.
• Newnan City Council assures concerned residents that a group home in the Waverly Circle area will not reopen.
• The state’s Division of Health Planning begins review of the Certificate of Need application for a location of Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Coweta.
• Authorities look for additional victims of accused child molester Amos “Ben” Huff.
• A Newnan man is killed in a three-vehicle crash on Carrollton Highway.
• Neighbors of Blalock Lakes protest a plan to turn the shooting club over to Orvis, and allow the use of lead shot.
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September
• Nine swine flu cases are confirmed in Coweta.
• Albert Griffin is charged with the April 19 shooting death of Antonio Roderkist Ellis, 33.
• A second juvenile comes forward with accusations of molestation against 47-year-old Amos Bennett “Ben” Huff.
• Qualifying ends with no elections in Newnan, Moreland or Turin.
• Coweta County’s budget for fiscal year 2010 is down $1.1 million, or 2 percent.
• Sharpsburg’s Wayne Reese wins the $12 million Mega Millions jackpot in the Georgia lottery.
• Acclaimed Georgia writer Terry Kay visits with Newnan Reading Circle as it celebrates a century.
• Newnan Rotary Club honors Scott Wilson for 50 years of service.
• Senoia dismisses ethics charge against Councilman Jeffrey Fisher.
• Nighttime fire destroys LTI Flexible Products doing millions of dollars in damage and affecting approximately 150 employees.
• Fredrick Devale Hill gets indicted in March 13 shooting of Betty Jean Florence, 44.
• The Times-Herald celebrates its 144th birthday.
• Coweta Board of Education posthumously recognizes Bonnie N. Garrison for 15 years of service with Communities in Schools.
• Housing Authority of Newnan agrees to oversee the city’s Urban Redevelopment Plan to improve housing conditions and homelessness.
• Local authorities arrest the leader of a drug cartel after 13 are indicted in Coweta and more than $2 million is seized.
• September foreclosures are a record for Coweta.
• State announces a new commissary will be built at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta.
• Ninety-one dogs are removed from a home on Millard Farmer Road citing unfit conditions.
• Starship attorneys file objections in a lawsuit by the adult-oriented business against Coweta County.
• Cowetans come together despite rain in remembrance of the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
• Senoia’s Ricardo Ramos embarks on a trip around the U.S. on his bicycle.
• Newnan celebrates the grand re-opening of the Carnegie building in downtown as a library-type facility.
• Kelly Higgins Butler, a former Coweta teacher, is charged in solicitation of prostitutes sting.
• Coweta Commissioners approve a conditional use permit and height variance for Baldwin Paving Company to operate an asphalt batch plant at the Vulcan quarry.
• Cowetans sign a steel beam from the north tower of the World Trade Center on its way to Fort Benning’s National Infantry Museum.
• Commissioner Randolph Collins asks for an expansion of the trash and recycling facility on Weldon Road.
• Local business owners submit to training to keep abreast of sweeping changes in employment and labor laws in recent years.
• Peachtree City soldier, Sgt. 1st Class Shawn P. McCloskey, 33, is killed in Afghanistan.
• A total of 30 animals — including dogs, cats, birds and one baby deer — are removed from a Leah Drive home.
• U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson visits Newnan to speak to Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce members and area youth at Carnegie.
• Coweta’s four constitutional officers speak candidly with the public at Justice Center forum.
• Street atlases are introduced by the county.
• The Chattahoochee River crests at a record 29.84 feet, flooding portions of the county. Residents can apply for disaster assistance.
• A 90-year-old is brutally attacked in her Pinson Street home. No suspects are identified.
• Michelle Garner Hall is convicted of malice murder and aggravated assault in the July 30, 2008, shooting death of her husband, 37-year-old John Britt Hall.
• The county breaks ground at the Chattahoochee Bend State Park in west Coweta after the state purchased the property a decade ago.
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October
• The federal slander lawsuit filed by former Coweta County Commissioner Leigh Schlumper against commissioners Tim Higgins and Tim Lassetter is dismissed.
• Longtime Coweta Development Authority President Bill Harrison dies of cancer.
• “Zombieland,” the major motion picture starring Woody Harrelson that filmed scenes in Newnan, opens nationwide.
• All of Coweta’s schools make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.
• State Rep. Lynn Smith, R-Newnan, joins state’s water task force and is re-appointed to a national environmental panel.
• Senoia’s old McKnight Gin property will be featured as Southern Living “Idea House” in 2010.
• Grantville City Manager Scott Starnes resigns after less than a year when he’s arrested for buying marijuana.
• A memorial service is held for Coweta’s Gary Pate 41 years after he was declared missing in action in Vietnam and later presumed dead. Earlier this year, his bent military dog tags and ring were located. A service will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in 2010 for Pate.
• The first doses of the swine flu vaccine arrive in Coweta.
• Coweta takes steps toward expanding jail, which is frequently over capacity.
• Fredrick Devale Hill pleads guilty in the March 13 shooting of Betty Jean Florence. He is sentenced to 15 years to serve eight in prison.
• Citizens are divided when President Barack Obama receives the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.
• Coweta has record 265 foreclosures for October.
• Stimulus money will fund the replacement of the Greentop Road bridge over CSX Railroad and the Cannon Road Bridge over White Oak Creek.
• A 6-foot alligator is spotted on Interstate 85 northbound near exit 51 in north Coweta.
• The 2009 Coweta County Fair suffers low attendance when rain closes two of 10 nights.
• Newnan votes to accept its portion of the $2.1 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program grant.
• Main Street Newnan hires Tina Darby as the new program coordinator.
• Coweta puts five buses in service for its dial-a-ride transit system.
• Crews finish work on copper at the 1904 Coweta County Courthouse clock tower, and the scaffolding comes down.
• Steve Stripling leaves his position as president of Bank of Coweta to become president of United Bank. Ashley H. Schubert Jr., who was executive vice president and chief lending officer at the Bank of Coweta, becomes Coweta-Fayette Regional President for Charter Bank.
• Senoia’s new Main Street buildings and Seavy Street parking lot are named “outstanding new construction/infill” at the Georgia Downtown Awards.
• The Heritage School celebrates its 40th birthday.
• The state says Coweta’s property tax assessments are too low and demands $122,981 for the balance of state taxes owed. The county appeals the decision.
• Senoia attorney James M. Kimbrough III is disbarred by the Georgia Supreme Court after it reviewed three disciplinary matters.
• The Georgia Court of Appeals upholds the conviction and sentencing of former school teacher and state legislative candidate Craig Steven Bowen on four counts of child molestation.
• Coweta Firefighter Matthew Van Robinson is placed on leave from his job after being arrested Oct. 11 for driving under the influence, hit-and-run and leaving the scene of an accident.
• Coweta jobless rate hits 10 percent.
• The Ball Corporation plant at 98 Amlajack Blvd. in the Shenandoah Industrial Park sells its plastic pail assets to to BWAY Corporation for approximately $32 million.
• Authorities charge 25-year-old Donald Joseph Miller with the Oct. 22 stabbing death of his neighbor, 77-year-old Betsill Phillips, near Arnco. Miller’s girlfriend, Holly Ann Kremel, is charged with obstruction and possession of cocaine.
• Newnan Country Club celebrates 90 years.
• A water main break at the intersection of Bullsboro Drive and the Newnan Crossing Bypass affects a number of businesses and motorists.
• Main Street Newnan’s first-ever Oktoberfest Boutique Beer tasting draws a crowd of more than 300 people.
• A Coweta County State Court jury awards Gary Stevenson and his wife, Vicky, $7.5 million for injuries and damages Stevenson suffered in a December 2006 traffic accident on Sharpsburg-McCollum Road/Highway 154 near Hammock Road.
• Coweta suffers its first flu-related death.
• Newnan agrees to purchase signs for the Interstate that say, “Historic Newnan Next 2 Exits.”
• Authorities confirm a rabid fox was found in the western portion of the SummerGrove subdivision.
• Georgia Secretary of State and Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel makes a stop in Newnan while campaigning.
• Molesting suspect Eugene Andrew Murphy pleads guilty, but mentally ill, and is sentenced to 25 years in prison.
• Bond is set at $3 million for Alec Bryant McNaughton, the man charged with killing his wife, 54-year-old Cathy Lorraine Mendenhall McNaughton, on Feb. 15 at the couple’s north Coweta home.
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November
• Newnan is named one of the “Great Places in Georgia” by Georgia Planning Commission.
• Gate receipts were down 40 percent at 2009 county fair, due to the slow economy and heavy rains.
• National Community Action for Improvement honors Minnie Robinson as a pioneer with program.
• Coweta Public Safety Director Dennis Hammond retires after 32 years.
• Northgate student and rapper Kendall “K-Mack” Mack auditions for BET in New York.
• Former Grantville councilmen Willie L. Clements and John A. Malcolm are honored Nov. 1 with community center named in their honor.
• Jimmy Lee Rosser pleads guilty to Sept. 2, 2008, shooting.
• Selma Coty defeats Grantville City Councilman Nick Sasso in November elections; Rochelle Jabaley retains seat. Sharpsburg Mayor Wendell Staley returns, and Larry Owens and Jeff Fisher are re-elected to Senoia City Council.
• Suspected bank robber John E. Johnston was arrested.
• Newnan was announced as a finalist to land a top South Korean industrial prospect.
• A Kiwanis Club is chartered in Grantville.
• Newnan Cougars defeat East Coweta Indians 43-26.
• Veterans Day brings the dedication of the Medal of Honor statue at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Newnan, with Col. Joe Jackson in attendance.
• VA outpatient clinic holds grand opening at Oak Hill Professional Park off Hwy. 34 E.
• Four-year-old Raven Gore hailed as a hero after calling 911 when her mother goes into a diabetic seizure.
• Kia begins hiring for its second production line at the West Point automobile plant.
• Lenny’s Pub on Jackson Street demolished to make way for road improvements.
• Comedian Katt Williams arrested for an alleged burglary on Smokey Road.
• Darry Pilkington, founder of Newnan High Old South Marching Festival, recognized at the 30th annual show.
• Actress Brooke Shields visits downtown Newnan, working on film “Destination Home.”
• East Coweta High earns the Governor’s Cup for improvement on SAT test scores.
• Coweta County Hospital Authority fields funding requests from West Central Technical College and proposed Coweta Samaritan Clinic.
• Vicki Hale was named new Coweta Pregnancy Services director following the retirement of Carol Rexroad. The service is part of a non-profit Christian ministry.
• Newnan native and Medal of Honor winner Col. Joe Jackson meets with local students following dedication of a statue at Veterans Memorial Plaza in Newnan.
• Local football fans donate 5,000 items to food pantry.
• Heavy rainfall puts the improvement on I-85 behind schedule.
• Ann Bell selected as Bank of Coweta president to replace Steve Stripling.
• Signatures of students from Canongate Elementary set to be sent into space aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.
• A Better Way Ministries move to Senoia.
• Coweta County Health Department struggled to keep the much-in-demand H1N1 vaccine in stock.
• Initial unemployment claims jumpˆto 1,031 and members of the Newnan-Peachtree City Area Employer Committee say many job-seekers simply “giving up.”
• Irvin Riley Smallwood, 81, of Senoia, arrested after trying to set fire to his girlfriend, 35-year-old Barbara Dawn Coker.
• Coweta Superior Court Judge Jack Kirby denies motion for a new trial for convicted murderer Michelle Garner Hall.
• Ardarius Hart, 15, charged with string of local armed robberies.
• Powers’ Festival director Carol Chancey and Coweta Festivals, Inc. part ways.
• State Senator Mitch Seabaugh tells local educators 2010 budget challenges will be greater than ever. “We are in unprecedented times,” he says.
• Newnan High School football team rallies past Martin Luther King in a 15-6 win to advance to the AAAAA quarterfinals.
• A 68-year-old Chubby Checker “twists the night away” at a concert on the Newnan Court Square.
• Plans for a low-cost spay/neuter clinic are announced as a possibility for 2010 by Newnan-Coweta Humane Society.
• Coweta Community Foundation files response in civil case involving the multimillion dollar estate of Edgar Hollis, stating that the city missed its chance to inherit the bequest. Assets from the estate dropped a staggering $4 million in just three years. Other parties in the civil suit include Mayo Royal and the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society.
• Kelli Marie Armstrong of Newnan charged in thefts from local schools.
• Local ministry organizes Thanksgiving dinners, including one at Newnan High School.
• Grassroots Arts Program awards grants to Coweta County Public Library System, Newnan Carnegie Library Foundation, Newnan Community Theatre Company, Southeastern Ballet Co., and Patrons of the Centre, Inc.
• Congressman Lynn Westmoreland eats Thanksgiving dinner with troops in Afghanistan.
• Coweta County Sheriff’s Office looks into alleged “domestic issues” involving Sgt. Clint Reynolds.
• Parking lots at local retail centers are full at 4 a.m. for “Black Friday.” In-demand items included laptop computers and big-screen TVs.
• Courney L. Lockhart of Alabama — arrested earlier in Newnan — charged with capital murder, kidnapping, robbery, and attempted rape in the March 2008 slaying of Auburn student Lauren Burk.
• Newnan soldier Jason A. Owens completes a 15-mile endurance march at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.
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December
• Coweta County’s jobless rate climbs to 10.5 percent.
• State Senator Mitch Seabaugh tells attendees at a Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce breakfast that government can’t be expected to solve everyone’s problems.
• The Adopt-A-Soldier warehouse shelves are bare.
• Haralson holds its annual Christmas parade.
• The Coweta County Can-A-Thon organized by Newnan Junior Service League and supported by Coweta school students exceeds its goal with 362,894 donations.
• The third vehicle in three months runs off the road at the Hwy. 154 / Hammock Road intersection.
• Two more inches of rain drench Coweta.
• Sgt. Deputy Clint Reynolds of the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office is arrested for assault.
• Dr. Skip Sullivan says adult education would be a high priority for the new West Georgia Technical School proposed campus in Coweta.
• Coweta County Library System trustees consider formally breaking its ties with Senoia library.
• The Newnan High School Cougars football team ends its season with a heartbreaking 29-24 loss in the semifinals to Northside of Warner Robins.
• Comedian Katt Williams is questioned in a parking lot scuffle outside the Newnan Walmart.
• A mobile meth lab is busted at the Hardee’s restaurant parking lot.
• ACE — Alliance for Children’s Enrichment — announces that the need this Christmas would be greater than ever before.
• Local demand for nurse education leads to increased enrollment at the University of West Georgia.
• The Sharpsburg Angel Ride helps 500 children and senior citizens for Christmas.
• The Main Street Christmas parade launches the holiday season.
• Coweta County Engineer Wayne Kennedy is recognized for his service to the county.
• Bids were approved for a bridge replacement project over CSX railroad on Greentop Road.
• Central Educational Center receives a $150,000 grant to construct a new sound studio.
• A new Coweta Water and Sewerage Authority wastewater treatment facility is dedicated at Shenandoah.
• First United Methodist Church of Newnan retires its debt on the Bank of America property on Greenville Street.
• Coweta County Board of Education purchased a $10,000 scanner to help improve scores on End of Course Tests.
• Construction begins on the new Grantville public library.
• A coyote confronts Grantville City Councilwoman Debi Rogers.
• A Christmas meal is organized for families of local soldiers.
• After the arrival of a new 5,300-dose shipment of H1N1 vaccine, the Coweta County Health department begins easing restrictions on who can receive it.
• The Coweta County Board of Education said that deceased East Coweta High School student Darrius Butler would be “greatly missed.”
• Newnan’s Jeanette Underwood beats out 300,000 other contestants to win a replica of Edward Cullen’s car from “Twilight.”
• The number of foreclosure advertisements in The Times-Herald increases to 230, the third highest number on record.
• A road in Senoia is dedicated in honor of the late Lance Corporal Jeff Blanton.
• Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Chapman campaigns in Coweta.
• Senoia opens its doors for the annual Candlelight Tour.
• Initial unemployment claims drop by 28 percent from the previous month.
• Mercer University announces plans to offer classes in Newnan.
