Community Voices: Are Peachtree City post office woes waning?

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Ongoing complaints about service and upkeep at the Peachtree City post office prompted a recent meeting between city reps and postal officials. Jill Howard Church for the AJC

For a lot of folks in Peachtree City, the P.O. might as well be called the pee-yew.

Years of complaints about the city’s post office came to a head last month after Mayor Vanessa Fleisch wrote to U.S. Postmaster General Megan Brennan about ongoing reports of long lines, rude staff and spotty deliveries. A meeting between city and state officials and U.S. Postal Service reps on Sept. 7 resulted in a pledge of better employee training and service.

It can’t come soon enough.

Google reviews of the Peachtree City branch are a string of single stars longer than the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Facebook comments decrying “rudeness, lies and laziness” and carriers who refuse (but claim they tried) to deliver larger packages are common. Some customers say their neighborhoods don’t get any delivery at all when it rains. And when birthday gifts and Amazon orders get delayed or lost, the ship(ping) gets real.

There are rumors that the eagle logo at this branch might be replaced with a buzzard, since the building is where time goes to die. I have on many occasions stepped inside, seen the line and turned right around and left. (May I say, however, that I have a wonderful carrier, from a county branch.)

Part of the problem is that Peachtree City, despite its size, has no postmaster of its own. It shares one with Fayetteville (whom Fleisch called “unable or unwilling to address the ongoing problems”). Having no such priority male or female on site could be a big reason why customer service in Peachtree City has been lax. We’d order a replacement if we thought he or she would be delivered before Christmas.

In fairness, postal employees — like anyone else who must deal with the public daily — also find themselves on the receiving end of rude behavior. Years ago I was at the post office when a male customer at another counter started shouting at the clerk and made a derogatory racial comment to her as he stormed out. But before he could reach the lobby door, virtually every person in line behind him yelled back in a chorus of reproach.

Plus, a building that dreary can’t be a positive environment in which to work. Not even the steam coming from the customers’ ears can clean off those gray walls. It needs work: Fresh paint. Warmer lighting. Benches or chairs. Art. A parking lot that isn’t a hopscotch of cracked concrete. Even the U.S. flag out front got so worn it looked like a relic from Iwo Jima. It has now been replaced — a good omen!

Customers have been forwarding themselves to other postal locations, including branches in Tyrone and Senoia that, despite their smaller size, get higher marks for service.

Benjamin Franklin, our nation’s first postmaster general, once noted that “Well done is better than well said.” Let’s hope the efforts of our elected officials can help lick this problem.

If Peachtree City’s post office can regain prompt, friendly and reliable service, it would certainly get everyone’s stamp of approval.

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Chabad of Peachtree City: The ‘Good’ Year

Writers Rabbi Yossi Lew Rabbi Yossi Lew is co-director of Chabad of Peachtree City.

It happens every year, just as it has been happening forever: Rosh Hashanah arrives, and the synagogues are crowded. Even those who, throughout the rest of the year, allow their Jewish connection to fall into the shadows are inspired to show up.

The High Holidays typically feature extra-long prayers, inspiring speeches and sermons from the rabbi, and, of course, the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn, many times over. Trust me, none of this resembles the synagogue experience of the rest of the year.

Prayers and hopes are centered around the point of shana tova, a good year: pleading and begging for a renewed connection and a good upcoming year.

As this occurs each year, the question is inevitable: Why are people doing this? Do those who emerge from their spiritual yearlong hibernation really need to disturb their slumber for a three-day, spiritually Jewish marathon, begging for yet another good year?

Besides, what does a “good” year mean? Are healthy adult men and women showing up to ensure their job is secure, a few extra dollars are found, their friends should love them, and their doctors should stay away?

The filled synagogues are not about people seeking healing, wealth and happiness. Infinitely more is happening. Indeed, every person who turns out for the High Holidays is giving up a matter of substance. It may be surrendering time, sleep, work or rest. Sacrifices are being made to attend services.

A sacrifice normally originates from a profoundly personal place. It is from here — that “spark” of spirituality — one is inspired to behave Jewishly: to pray, to pay attention to the sounds of the shofar, to take to heart words of Torah, and to consider reconnecting to spiritual roots.

Those who undertake this move ostensibly appreciate and grasp, on some level, the merit of their actions.

The High Holiday season tends to resurrect that spark of Jewish connection. In some cases, that spark has been waiting to be touched since the previous High Holiday season. And that spark of spiritual connection is “good.”

On Rosh Hashanah, we connect to a place deep inside with wishes not merely for continued health and wealth, but for that connection to endure another day — we hope until next year.

The dilemma: How does one turn this inspiration into a tangible, ongoing commitment? Even those more observant people whose connection is stronger struggle with carrying the inspiration from the High Holidays through the coming year.

The key, then, is to examine the real goodness in the term shana tova, the good year. One may experience goodness in several ways: good news, good mood, good weather. One can point to good deeds as well.

The ultimate goodness is that which is shared with others. Here, one has not only committed a good deed, but also shared and spread this goodness.

Yet people tend to worry about the reaction of others. In truth, if a deed is a good one, it should not matter what another may think.

Several years ago, I was attending the bar mitzvah of my nephew in London. My illustrious sister and her rabbi husband are Chabad emissaries to that far-flung neighborhood, and their neighbors are not the friendliest bunch. My sister advised us to be aware and to try not to stand out too much.

One example she mentioned was the tallis (prayer shawl), worn during morning services in the synagogue: It is forbidden to carry an object in the public domain during Shabbos. My sister encouraged us to bring the tallis to the synagogue on Friday, before the onset of Shabbos, and avoid wearing this conspicuous garment upon ourselves while walking in the street to services.

This arrangement did not work for me: I was caught in traffic and arrived at the house too late. The next morning, I placed the tallis on my shoulders at the house, preparing to walk to the synagogue. A family member was alarmed. “What are you doing? Are you really intending to walk outside like this after we were cautioned about unnecessary attention?”

Opening the door to leave, I looked back at this family member and said: “Do you honestly think I look normal without wearing my tallis?”

To a world unfamiliar with Judaism and Jewish symbols, one probably looks strange or even nuts.

But that should not matter.

When people feature loud and noticeable gestures, this behavior is usually done to seek attention to personal expression. When, for example, a Jewish person wears a yarmulke in the streets or modest clothing even on the hot summer days, one is expressing good deeds. These should never be causes of worry. These are moments and opportunities to be a proud Jew and share good deeds with others.

The hope for a shana tova, a good year, should include the goodness of sharing that which is good with others precisely because it is “good.”

And it just may happen that, despite your feeling nuts, the other person is actually inspired and moved by this goodness.

And that is the ultimate good.

When praying for a good year this High Holiday season and when wishing this upon others, it would be wonderful to make a commitment to perform a good deed that will not merely affect the person making the resolution, but also others out there as well.

And then the spark can become an inferno of warmth and light. The connection will be strengthened, and the year, together with the years to come, will contain only goodness.

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Cleaning up after the storm in Peachtree City

PEACHTREE CITY, GA – Folks south of the metro area are spending the day cleaning up. Some people were hit harder than others.

11Alive’s Joe Henke spent Tuesday morning in Peachtree City, where one homeowner had a big mess to clean up — while some of her neighbors were left unscathed.

The storm damage from Tropical Storm Irma coming through Georgia is definitely widespread, but it is also extremely random.

You can come to neighborhoods like this one where I’m at in Peachtree City and you see yards like these ones over here – nothing at all to note. They look like they did 48 hours ago.

Then you come right over here – you see a whole lot of damage and now the clean-up process begins.

From a totaled SUV to a destroyed car — a branch sticking four feet deep into her home’s roof and a broken garage door.

On Tuesday morning, Naomi Duncan was seeing just how bad the damage was outside her home on Ambrose Lane, as she planned with her husband to start cleaning up Monday’s mess.

"The two in the front fell at the same time, almost," she said, talking about the trees in front of the house.

Duncan stepped outside after Irma took down the trees, imagining it couldn’t get any worse.

"Heard another crack and went running that way, and this tree over here fell, too," she said.

Three trees in total, came crashing down in a matter of seconds. And now, comes the day after the storm everyone hopes to avoid.

"Waiting on the insurance adjuster to get here so we can get the trees removed," she said. "We have some rental cars coming. Just praying that insurance is good to us."

But as the insurance process begins, at least there is a bright spot on this cloudy day for Duncan and her two daughters who were inside their home during the storm.

"We had three trees down," she said. "One we can’t even open the garage door, but everybody is safe. We are grateful for that."

© 2017 WXIA-TV

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Irma no big threat to Coweta

National Weather Service

The 5-day forecast cone now extends to include the Georgia coast (shown below). The earliest reasonable arrival time of tropical storm force winds to the Georgia coast would be late Sunday morning.

There’s no need to panic – in Coweta, that is.

While Hurricane Irma is shaping up to be potentially devastating to coastal areas – wherever it decides to make landfall – the effect the storm will have on Coweta shouldn’t be severe.

“It’s way too far out to really pin down the impacts that it is going to have for this region,” said Kyle Thiem, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Peachtree City. “In general terms, we’re probably going to have some pretty gusty winds going into Monday and Tuesday, and we’re probably going to experience a good amount of rain.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, the storm was tracking toward the east, putting Coweta on the western side of it. And the western side of a hurricane is the best side to be on.

“Being on the eastern track is a lot worse when it comes to both tornadoes and heavier rainfall potential,” Thiem said.

Gulf Coast hurricanes have a higher potential for severe weather impacts on Georgia – such as the tornado outbreak that accompanied Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The storm should reach Coweta late Monday and into Tuesday. “All we can do right now is kind of generalize,” Thiem said.

The current forecast calls for an inch and a half of rain over a few days, and wind gusts of 20 to 25 mph, he said.

The National Weather Service held an online briefing for Georgia’s emergency management directors Wednesday.

Coweta Emergency Management Director Jay Jones said several groups came to attend the briefing in his office, including representatives from Coweta-Fayette EMC, Newnan Public Works, and amateur radio operators.

There will be more briefings as the storm approaches. “They do a really good job of that any time we have a storm,” Jones said of the weather service’s Peachtree City office, which covers 96 counties in Georgia.

Though nothing major is expected from Irma in Coweta, it’s always a good idea to be prepared for emergencies and weather events.

“Everybody should prepare, whether it be a tornadic pattern or this hurricane,” Jones said. He recommends Cowetans visit ready.ga.gov for information about making a preparedness plan and putting together a kit. Items that should always be kept on hand include water and ready-to-eat foods.

Coweta and the city of Newnan are well-supplied with extra fuel, Jones said, and public-safety agencies are always ready to respond.

“Everybody is ready. We just had a meeting today to coordinate that,” Jones said. He’ll be monitoring the storm and keeping in contact with local agencies throughout the weekend.

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F.D.A. Cracks Down on ‘Unscrupulous’ Stem Cell Clinics

Dr. Mark Berman, of the Cell Surgical Network, in 2014 at his practice in Beverly Hills, Calif. Dr. Berman is a founder of the California Stem Cell Treatment Centers, where patients received an unapproved stem cell treatment made with the help of a smallpox vaccine and other ingredients.

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration announced a crackdown on dangerous stem cell clinics on Monday, while at the same time pledging to ease the path to approval for companies and doctors with legitimate treatments in the growing field.

The agency reported actions against two large stem cell clinics and a biotech company, saying that it was critical to shut down “unscrupulous actors” in regenerative medicine, a broad umbrella that includes stem cell and gene therapies and immunotherapies.

“The F.D.A. will not allow deceitful actors to take advantage of vulnerable patients by purporting to have treatments or cures for serious diseases without any proof that they actually work,” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the F.D.A. commissioner.

Stem cells, which can be extracted from bone marrow, blood or fat, can develop into many different types of cells, and are thought to have the potential to repair or replace tissue damaged by disease, injury or aging. But so far, the F.D.A. has approved only a few stem-cell products.

The companies that the F.D.A. cited have been performing liposuction to remove belly fat from patients, extracting stem cells and then injecting those cells back into the patients to treat various ailments.

On Friday, the agency said, federal marshals seized 500 doses of live Vaccinia virus vaccine for smallpox belonging to StemImmune Inc., a San Diego firm that develops stem cell-based immunotherapies for cancer. The raid came after the F.D.A. learned that the vaccine was being used to create an unapproved stem cell product, a combination of excess amounts of vaccine and stem cells derived from body fat, which was then administered to cancer patients with potentially compromised immune systems.

The F.D.A. said patients at the California Stem Cell Treatment Centers in Rancho Mirage and Beverly Hills, Calif., received the treatment made with the smallpox vaccine. It also said it had serious concerns about how StemImmune obtained the vaccine for use in an unapproved and potentially dangerous treatment.

StemImmune obtained at least some of the vaccine from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Thomas Skinner, a C.D.C. spokesman. In its request, the company said it was conducting cancer research involving the vaccinia virus, and needed to vaccinate researchers — a seemingly legitimate reason. The company did not tell the C.D.C. that it was going to inject the vaccine into patients, he said.

A statement from StemImmune said the company said the company had lawfully obtained the drug.

The F.D.A. also issued a warning letter to U.S. Stem Cell, a private clinic in Sunrise, Fla. The company was the subject of a March report in The New England Journal of Medicine, describing how one woman went blind and two others suffered severe, permanent eye damage after being given shots of stem cells, extracted from fat, into their eyes.

The warning letter accused the company of impairing the F.D.A.’s ability to conduct its inspection by refusing to allow inspectors in, and denying them access to employees. It also said that U.S. Stem Cell had failed to establish proper quality control and sanitary standards.

In a statement Monday afternoon, U.S. Stem Cell denied ever restricting access to F.D.A. inspectors, or having sterility problems. “The safety and health of our patients are our number one priority and the strict standards that we have in place follow the laws of the Food and Drug Administration,” it said.

Noting that the F.D.A. has asked patients with concerns to come forward, the company said it had asked patients who have had positive experiences with their stem cell treatments to notify the agency.

But in the warning letter, the F.D.A. noted that U.S. Stem Cell had claimed its work was not subject to agency regulation. The F.D.A. disagreed, saying that the cells extracted by the company met the definition of both a drug and a biological product, both of which come under the agency’s jurisdiction. In its statement, U.S. Stem Cell said it would abide by the new rules the agency is developing for the field.

Dr. Gottlieb said it was imperative to shut down fraudulent and unsafe players in the field in order to take advantage of the promise of stem cell therapies and to increase innovation in the regenerative medicine field, a program authorized by Congress in the 21st Century Cures Act.

The Sawgrass Medical Center in Sunrise, Fla., where the U.S. Stem Cell clinic operates. The F.D.A. issued a warning letter to U.S. Stem Cell, after a report described how one woman went blind and two others suffered severe, permanent eye damage after being given shots of stem cells, extracted from fat, into their eyes.

Those enterprises “put the entire field at risk,” Dr. Gottlieb said. “Products that are reliably and carefully developed will be harder to advance if bad actors are able to make hollow claims and market unsafe science.”

The California Stem Cell Treatment Centers were founded in 2010 by Dr. Mark Berman, a plastic surgeon, and Dr. Elliot Lander, a urologist. Dr. Berman defended the company, and said that the F.D.A. had not accurately interpreted its cancer pilot study with StemImmune. Dr. Berman, who is also a director of StemImmune, also said that none of the patients had experienced serious adverse effects or died as a result of the treatment involving the vaccine, which he noted, was free.

Dr. Berman and Dr. Lander also train other physicians to perform liposuction, extract stem cells from the fat and inject the cells to treat many ailments, including heart disease, back and knee pain, asthma and neurological disorders.

After training, the physicians can become affiliates of the Cell Surgical Network, which has more than 60 members around the country. Patients are charged $8,900 per procedure, Dr. Berman said in a previous interview. He said affiliates purchase a centrifuge and incubator from the network for about $29,000, and pay the network $1,000 for the disposable liposuction equipment needed for each procedure.

A Florida woman, Doris Tyler, 77, lost her sight after being treated last September at an affiliate of the Cell Surgical Network, the Ageless Wellness Center in Peachtree City, Ga. Cells from her fat were injected into both eyes.

Before the treatment, Mrs. Tyler’s sight had deteriorated because of age-related macular degeneration. But she said she could still see well enough to get around, cook and read.

Within a month of the injections, Mrs. Tyler had a retinal detachment and lost the sight in her left eye. A few weeks later, the same thing happened to her right eye.

She consulted Dr. Thomas Albini, an eye surgeon at the Bascom-Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami, who had also examined the three women who went blind after similar treatment at the U.S. Stem Cell Clinic.

In an interview, Dr. Albini said Mrs. Tyler’s case resembled the others. The stem cells apparently formed a membrane that pulled the retina off the back of the eye, causing blindness. Attempts to reattach the retinas surgically could not restore Mrs. Tyler’s sight. She was permanently blinded.

Calls to the clinic in Peachtree City were not returned.

Dr. Berman said that because of her case, affiliates of the Cell Surgical Network were being advised to avoid giving injections directly into the eyes.

“We made a bad decision to have this done,” Mrs. Tyler’s husband said.

Dr. Gottlieb said the F.D.A. would soon publish documents detailing which new treatments and products are subject to agency regulation, and which are not, and giving details on a new, expedited path for companies with legitimate products, seeking premarket approval.

Some industry representatives applauded the move.

“The F.D.A.’s proposal is clear evidence of the fact that the regenerative medicine sector has matured and has moved from just a research sector to a development of market ready products,” said Michael Werner, a partner in the law firm of Holland & Knight and the executive director of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. “He’s clearly distinguishing unscrupulous actors who are playing upon hype and taking advantage of patients and product developers who are actually going to treat diseases.”

‘He is trying to balance patient safety and a regulatory pathway that is as least burdensome as possible,” Mr. Werner said.

Public health advocates praised the F.D.A. for moving against the companies, but said it should have happened sooner, given the widespread knowledge of public harm.

“We certainly welcome this type of action, although it comes belatedly,” said Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen’s Health Research Group. “The agency has known about these unscrupulous actors for years.”

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PTC path, farmer’s market top priorities

The Newnan Times-Herald

A cart path connecting Senoia to Peachtree City and the return of an outdoor market were the things Senoia residents put the most importance on at at town hall meeting held Thursday.

At the meeting, attendees first talked about the things they like about their town, and then made suggestions for things they would like to see in the future or needed changes. The suggestions were written down individually on large sheets of paper and hung on the walls of the Senoia Senior Citizen Center, where the meeting was held.

Each attendee was given several red sticker dots, and asked to place the dots on the items they felt most strongly about. Several people were seen putting multiple stickers on the cart path poster. Then, the stickers for each item were added up.

The town hall meetings are held every other year by the Senoia Downtown Development Authority. This year’s meeting was facilitated by Candace Boothby of the Newnan-Coweta Chamber of Commerce.

Golf cart connectivity to Peachtree City was the clear winner with 103 votes.

The return of a downtown farmer’s market and outdoor market, which was suggested by Senoia Outdoor Marketplace founder Suzanne Pengelly, received 71 votes. It was written down as “farmer’s market.”

Other items receiving a significant number of votes were consistent code enforcement with 47, wider lanes and shoulders on Rockaway Road with 39 votes, better trash pickup on busy days downtown with 41 votes, better safety and coordination with downtown walking tours with 29 votes, an upscale community center with activities with 50 votes, more off-street parking with 44 votes, another grocery store with 56 votes, and more arts with 50 votes.

“A lot of good information came out tonight,” said Senoia City Manager Harold Simmons.

“A lot of the things we’re already working on,” he said after the meeting. The city recently added 45 parking spaces along Seavy Street, and a concern that was voiced about spray painting of arrows on roadways for runs and bicycle rides has already been taken care of.

A cart path connecting Senoia and Peachtree City is something that has been discussed since at least 2011 but has been put on the back burner. Part of the path would run through unincorporated Coweta County, and the county has no interested in chipping in funding.

In 2014, it was discussed that the county’s lack of funding was an obstacle, as was the failure of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax in Fayette County.

But there has been activity in the background. Simmons said he recently met with Peachtree City officials to discuss the future of a cart path.

In the past, Simmons said, there were rumors that Peachtree City was opposed to such a path. That is not the case, he said. “Peachtree City would love to connect to Senoia, and Senoia would love to connect to Peachtree City.”

But right now, the project is not a high priority for either side.

Peachtree City spends about a million dollars a year to maintain existing trails, Simmons said. And the city manager told him there are still portions of the city that haven’t been connected. Connections in the city and maintenance of existing trails are a higher priority.

On the Senoia side, the city is in the midst of a trail project that will connect the Cumberland subdivision to the Cumberland Village shopping area. The city is also busy with stormwater projects, a future sewer upgrade and the long-awaited intersection improvement at Pylant Street and Hwy. 16, as well as plans for a trail to connect Seavy Street and Ivy Ridge.

“It’s just not a good time for us to try to fit that in,” Simmons said. The Peachtree City connection is a long-term project, he said. A lack of county funding is no longer seen as a problem.

As for the outdoor market, the city council has opposed the market because it conflicts with the city’s rules on open-air markets. A four-month moratorium on open-air markets that are not held on an improved parking lot was put in place in June.

“The citizens have spoken in favor of the return of the downtown farmers and outdoor market,” Pengelly said in an email Friday. “The ‘grandfathered’ Senoia Outdoor Marketplace looks forward to returning downtown once the moratorium is lifted.”

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Are You Ready to Visit Peachtree City?

Most people really don’t think much about Georgia when it comes to taking a vacation. Yet, the Georgia coast is quite beautiful and the weather is warm enough to help keep you comfortable when the temperatures are colder up north. That being said, most people don’t visit Georgia to stay unless they are visiting relatives.

If you have not really considered Georgia as a travel destination, you must never have researched Peachtree city. It is a vacation destination that you certainly would want to consider. In fact, it was nominated by Money magazine as one of the best small towns to live in but even if you don’t live there, a visit is still going to help you to slow down and enjoy life.

One of the interesting things about Peachtree city is the fact that there are golf carts everywhere. In fact, there are green belts throughout the area and around a number of lakes that span some 90 miles. These are golf cart paths and you can slow down and take a look at all that the area has to offer from one of those motorized carts.

In addition to seeing life at 15 miles an hour, you also be able to visit some of the most beautiful lakes that the United States has the offer. There are two lakes as well as 3 different golf courses that are world-class. Recreational activities are certainly not limited in the area and regardless of whether you enjoy fine dining, a day out shopping or staying at a luxury hotel, you are sure to enjoy what it has to offer.

Peachtree city is located only 26 miles to the south of Atlanta and it is easily accessible. Why not stop by for a visit this year? You won’t regret it!

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