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THE TRUTH SINCE 1886
FAYETTE COUNTY (1) NEWS
f ay ett e-news, net
Vol. 152, No. 20 Wednesday, May 15, 2024 $1.
Fayetteville Proposes 'Town Center' for 38-Acre Tract Development
Dylan Shoemaker
Staff Writer
dshoemaker@fayette-news.net
The City of Fayetteville
hosted the first of two town
hall meetings on May 9 at
the Line Creek Bus Barn to
discuss a potential devel
opment for the 38-acre tract
adjacent to the southwest
corner of City Center Park
stretching southwest to
Grady Avenue.
The informal meeting al
lowed community members
to give input on ideas the
city is considering in rela
tion to space. In addition to
concerned citizens, several
city officials were in atten
dance, including council
members and staff, the
mayor, and the police chief.
“We have found it al
ways extremely valuable to
open up the opportunity for
citizens to give us feedback,”
said Mayor Ed Johnson.
Architecture and design
firm NELSON Worldwide
Senior Vice President
Lamar Wakefield presented
design plans for a concept
coined Fayetteville Town
Center. The mock concept
exhibited residential and
commercial buildings for
future restaurants, retail,
and housing options to po
tentially contribute to com
munity livelihood and eco
nomic growth.
NELSON Worldwide
has been responsible for the
development of Trilith in
Fayette and the Avalon in
Alpharetta, which were pro
vided as examples to con
ceptualize the proposed
atmosphere.
Wakefield was accompa
nied by City Manager Ray
Gibson to answer questions
from attendees. Both em
cees expressed there have
been no decisions made for
the 38-acre tract because
See Town Center, A6
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Knut Zinnacker, front row, center, met with first responders and county officials to thank them for recently saving his life after
suffering a heart attack locally during a business trip. Courtesy of Fayette County
German CEO Thanks Fayette First
Responders for Saving His Life
On April 30, Fayette County first
responders saved the life of German
businessman Knut Zinnacker, who
suffered a heart attack in his hotel
room during a business visit.
Sharron Singletary, the office man
ager who works with Zinnacker at G+Z
Machine Services, accepted his emer
gency call early morning on her work
phone.
"Knut advised me to call 911 be
cause he had chest pains and difficulty
in breathing. He had called me on my
company cell phone, and I was able to
use my personal cell phone to call 911
at 8:13. I advised the Clayton County
911 operator that I needed to be trans
ferred to Fayette County 911 because
my employer visiting from Germany
was in his hotel room having a heart
attack," she said.
"I still had Knut on my company
cell phone and was talking to him to
keep him alert, and at 8:18 I heard the
paramedics enter the room. They im
mediately started asking Knut ques
tions and he was still alert to answer,"
said Singletary.
When the paramedics were taking
Zinnacker to the ambulance, he told
them he felt like he was going to get
sick.
"One of the medics said, ’We can’t
do that,’ and started to sing - yes, sing
- an Elvis Presley song in German, and
it calmed me,” said Zinnacker.
He was transported to Piedmont
Fayette Hospital. Zinnacker was taken
to the heart cath lab, where a stent was
placed in his right artery that was too
percent blocked before being re
opened.
Garrett Named New County Elections Director
Brieanna Garrett is the
new elections director for
Fayette County.
Garrett worked with
the Clayton County Board
of Elections and Registra
tion for six years. Her ex
perience includes
administrative roles, elec
tion administration, train
ing, equipment manage
ment, and the mainte
nance of the elector role,
according to Fayette offi
cials.
“Brieanna has the
knowledge, skills, and op
erational experience to en
hance the effectiveness of
our [day-to-day] election
operations. I appreciate
her willingness to lead
Fayette County’s devel
opment into the future,”
Steve Rapson, county ad
ministrator, said.
"I look forward to col
laborating with Fayette
County's esteemed leaders
and ensuring that we move
forward in unison to am
plify the voices of our com
munity,” Garrett added.
Brieanna Garrett
Tolbert to Represent Fayetteville
in Mrs. Georgia America Pageant
Tess Tolbert will represent Fay
etteville in the Mrs. Georgia America
Pageant. Her philanthropic ventures
include being the founder of God’s
Work, a nonprofit with emphasis on
four initiatives: youth, community,
homelessness, and health.
Tolbert is an active member of
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the
chair of Empower Our Families
committee, and a member of several
other committees related to the so
rority, as well as a local volunteer at
Bloom Our Youth.
She has a master social work li
cense and is a doctoral candidate.
Professionally, Tolbert is a realtor,
who wishes to help families find
their dream home and foster a sense
of belonging in area neighborhoods.
The pageant takes place on June
23 at 4:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree
hotel, located at 1075 Holcomb
Bridge Road in Roswell.
TESS TOLBERT
MRS FAYETTEVILLE
Submitted
: •
Concerned Parents
Create Petition to Ban
Candy in Classrooms
Leah Banks
Senior Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
For many former ele
mentary and middle school
students, receiving candy
rewards from teachers for
doing well in school served
as positive reinforcement,
but many parents are voic
ing concerns about the
health and wellness of stu
dents.
In a petition created by
Desiree Figer, a group of
parents joined to voice
their concerns about the
use of candy as a reward
and the dye that is within
unhealthy options for stu
dents.
“The Wellness Commit
tee, as well as members of
the Fayette County Board
of Education and Superin
tendent Patterson, must
take this research seriously
and commit to changing
policies in order to promote
the welfare of our Fayette
County children,” Figer
said in the petition. “I have
students in Fayette County
elementary, middle, and
high schools. During our
three Meet the Teacher
events this year, almost
every one of my kids’
teachers asked for candy
donations.
“One teacher joked,
‘Kids will do anything for a
Jolly Rancher.’ This is not a
joke,” Figer continued.
“Our kids’ brains are being
rewired - we may see posi
tive impact on behavior in
the short term but the long
term repercussions on our
kids’ psychological and
physical health cannot be
ignored.”
Figer noted research
concerning the impact that
candy rewards has on chil-
See Petition, A6
BOE Talks New SAT
Design, Eyes Tentative
Budget Adoption
Considers Updates to Code of Conduct
Leah Banks
Senior Reporter
leah@fayette-news.net
In the May 6 Fayette
County Board of Education
work session, members of
the board gathered for dis
cussions, reviews, and pro
posals for the 2025-2026
school year. The updated
SAT and tentative budget
adoption were at the top of
the docket.
Regarding the updated
SAT, a presentation was
given by Margaret Walls,
principal of McIntosh High
School in Peachtree City.
The new test will be admin
istered in digital format
only, compared to tradi
tional paper and pencil tests
previously taken, Walls said.
According to the presen
tation, the new SAT will be
two hours and 14 minutes
long, which is shorter than
the traditional three-hour
test.
The structure of the test
will be adaptive, meaning
that difficulty is based on
performance in the first
stage of testing, and the
questions will have different
weights. The previous test
had a static structure, indi
cating that the test did not
change based on perform
ance, and counted both right
and wrong answers.
Rather than having two
sections with two parts, the
updated SAT has two sec
tions with two modules. The
first section is “Reading &
Writing” and is set at 74 mi
nutes. The section is com
posed of two modules, each
set with 32 minutes and 27
total items. The second sec
tion is “Math,” which is
comprised of two modules
with 35 minutes and 22
items in each. A calculator is
provided within the plat
form for all math.
For the scores, the range
will remain between 400
and 1,600, but students no
longer have access to their
questions and answers and
will receive results in days.
The SAT test dates for
2024 are May 4, June 1,
Aug. 24, and Oct. 5. The
deadline to register for the
May 4 exam is April 19. The
deadline for the June 1 test
is May 16. The deadline for
the Aug. 24 test is Aug. 8,
and the deadline for the Oct.
5 test is Sept.19.
Walls emphasized the
need to practice the SAT dig
itally rather than using the
traditional method of pencil
and paper, due to the
changes.
“Kids who want to take
the SAT, they really need to
practice digitally only,”
Walls said. “If you had a kid
who was ever prepping for
the SAT, you probably
bought all those workbooks.
Get rid of them - they’re use
less.”
Walls pointed out that,
while the ACT may be very
familiar to students, the SAT
will be completely different
and new for students, as far
See BOE, A6
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OBITUARIES
FAYETTE VIEWS
A2 SPORTS
A4 LEGALS
B2 SCHOOL
B5 CLASSIFIEDS
B2
B7
CONTACT US: support@fayette-news.net - (770) 461-6317 - fayette-news.net
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