1. Cherokee Charter Academy Rejected: Join in on the discussion from Friday's meeting where the Board of Education voted 4-3 against the proposal. Board members Robert Rechsteiner, Mike Chapman, Janet Read and Robert Wofford voted no and members Mike Geist, Kim Chochran and Rob Usher vote yes. See video coverage from the meeting here. 2. Oh, No! Right Wing Tavern Is Closed: The popular downtown restaurant announced Thursday via Facebook it is closing its doors. Freight Kitchen & Tap is slated to open in the train depot. 3. Rachel Is Looking for Home: The Pet of the Week series has started …

1. District to Consider Charter Petition: A decision on the fate of the county's first charter school could come this Thursday. The Cherokee County School District had announced a special meeting on June 30, but now the Cherokee Charter Academy is on the June 16 agenda. 2. Coach Arrested on Child Porn Charges: A Woodstock father is accused of having illegal images on his computer, but his wife says he didn't download them. The 47-year-old man was arrested May 3 and charged with two counts of sexual exploitation of children. A search warrant was executed at his home, and child porn images were…

1. Charter School Talk: Between the Cherokee County School District publicly saying the Cherokee Charter Academy missed their deadlines, and the school responding with an open letter, it has been an eventful week for the charter school. Canton-Sixes Patch editor followed up on the situation by answering if the charter school actually violated a state law. 2. Woodstock Man Shot 5 Times: A 22-year-old man was shot fives times Saturday morning and survived. The Woodstock resident was in his bedroom in Noonday Mobile Home Park when the presumed drive-by shooting happened. Police officials are …

First of all, Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers and mothers-to-be from Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch! This week was had a few celebrations including the National Day of Prayer and Cinco de Mayo. Woodstock residents, officials and church members gathered at the City Park to join hands in prayer for various groups in the U.S. Check out the video from Thursday’s event. The Etowah baseball team did not celebrate Saturday night as they lost 3-2 to North Gwinnett in the first game of the playoffs. The Eagles finished the season fifth in the state. In a nearly two-hour meeting, the Cherokee …

A Woodstock soldier died Tuesday in Mosul, Iraq, of injuries from an unspecified incident that was not combat-related. Army Spc. Gary L. Nelson III, 20, was participating in Operation New Dawn. Atlanta Gas will invest $100 million in Cherokee County to construct 14 miles of pipes. Construction will begin this fall and take approximately one year to complete. See a video Tuesday's County Commission meeting. In police news, six juveniles face loitering and criminal trespass charges after creating a makeshift skate park in a vacant building on Main Street. The Woodstock police arrested the …

Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch has been getting an uplift. You will be seeing changes to the homepage and internal pages over the next couple of weeks. If you ever have any questions about the site, feel free to e-mail them to the editor at lindsey.davidson@patch.com.  Woodstock’s bid was rejected for the Georgia Music Hall of Fame Thursday morning. Patch listened in on the conference call when the Authority Board made its decision to keep the museum in Macon for now and reject all the bids. The police department was quiet this week, but we did start a new series for your safety benefit. We will …

The 2010 Census numbers were released Thursday showing how much Cherokee County and Woodstock have grown over the past decade. With almost 24,000 residents, Woodstock leads the county in population and Cherokee is now one of the fast-growing counties in the state. The School Board members discussed the Valedictorian issues Thursday at their monthly meeting. A first reading was approved. You can see minute-by-minute updates here. The Moms Council discussed cyberbullying in schools and asked how parents are protecting their children. If you have any relevant experiences, share your advice with …

It's Daylight Savings Time, just in case you didn't get the memo. Make sure you set your clocks ahead so you aren't late for work in the morning.  This past week, Woodstock police officers pulled over a car for littering and ended up arresting and charging two men for forgery. Electronics purchased with fraudulent checks were found in their vehicle as well. Various businesses in the community are helping a family in need this week. Dylan Kent, who was a freshman at Etowah High School, passed away March 8, and his family needs financial assistance with the funeral and the time they had off …

The week started off with tornado sirens, hail and damaging winds and ended with a gloomy weekend. But the days in between saw sunny skies and high temperatures. The anticipated Mardi Gras on Main was a hit Friday night with a parade, music, beads and lots of sales at the downtown businesses. Woodstock Coffeehouse is will be joining the downtown area in April. Its last day of business was Saturday. The Coffeehouse will be re-opening its doors with a new look and a new brand. Congratulations to Emily Hollingshead as this week's Whiz Kid! Our Moms Council discussed the rights of a parent …

This is the second week of new features we’ve rolled out for you. From House Hunt to Patch Picks, we’ve started a plethora of series for your benefit. Just to name a few, you can catch Frugal Family on Wednesday which highlights five great deals that will help your family in savings at local locations. Don’t miss out on The Great Escape, also published Wednesdays, which highlights deals, ideas and advice for parents needing “me time”. If you are looking for events and ideas to fill your planner, the Grab & Go Kids Planner if perfect for family friendly events and Get Out lists weekend events …

With a successful full week of school, the big news this week in Woodstock-Towne Lake was the decision on the location of the Cherokee County public school graduations. The school board voted Thursday night to keep the graduations in First Baptist Church of Woodstock, and we did our first live blogging of the event for your benefit. We also sought out opinions of your neighbors and asked them to weigh in on the decision and give us their reactions. Sports is back in full swing. The Etowah boys had their first region win over Cherokee Friday night. But Woodstock wasn't as successful against …

This time last week, people's pantries were stocked, the shovel was dusted off and the family was crowded together just waiting for the first flurry to fall in Woodstock-Towne Lake. Just a little after 10 p.m., the first snowflakes began to paint the city, but it only took an hour for an inch of snow to hide the streets. Thus was the beginning to the week of businesses, school and government offices closed and City officials getting to work. Snow, or snowpocalypse, is the word of the week. With more than 6 inches blanketing Woodstock-Towne Lake, many businesses were closed. One stayed open …

We wrapped up 2010 this week, and we are looking forward to a louder 2011. A rainy New Year's day with temperatures in the 60s was a drastically different to our city being covered in snow a week ago. The Woodstock Fire Department offered some tips with the constant temperature and weather changes we have been having. Not only did our neighbors share their resolutions about wanting to get fit and organized, but Columnist Dee Locklin wrote an inspiring piece about reflecting on this past year will truly allow yourself to seize the opportunities of 2011. Going off her advice, we have been …

Santa made a few appearances around town in preparation for Christmas this week. From Woodstock libraries to the Alex 'N' Sis children's boutique, St. Nicolas showed his jolly face to the children of the Woodstock-Towne Lake area. Starting Monday, we will be publishing Happy Holidays stories dedicated to the Christmas season. If you have photos of your children and Santa, or you and Santa, feel free to upload them or e-mail them to me at lindsey.davidson@patch.com. Also in the spirit of Christmas, we talked about some places you can get your last-minute Christmas trees. There are still tree …

This past week was quite an exciting one for the Woodstock-Towne Lake Patch team. The site went live Thursday morning. If you are still trying to navigate your way around the site, here is an easy guide to help you out. Last night was the Christmas Jubilee and Parade of Lights Also in the spirit of Christmas, the final Friday Night Live was this past weekend where Leon, the 6-foot-10 elf wandered around Main Street with his Book of Good Boys and Girls.  It's a Wonderful Life is showing at the Woodstock Community Church till Dec. 18. Don't miss out on this stage performance. The Cherokee …