Newspaper Page Text
Pair committed to
riding, community
SPORTS, 1B
“I CAN TELL YOU THIS: WE ARE PUTTING OUT A DAMN PAPER.”
OPINION, PAGE 9A
Chief judgeship changing
hands for Dawson, Hall
LOCAL, 7A
DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I JULY 11,2018 DaWSOnNews ► com dawsonville, GEORGIA $1.00
Fireworks spark 3 house fires
We lost stuff in the fire we can never replace
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Jordan Rubright woke up at mid
night on July 5 to the sound of his
1-year-old Labrador barking fero
ciously.
Unusual behavior for the dog,
Rubright walked downstairs to inves
tigate. Looking out the kitchen win
dow, his eyes met a fiery red glow
through the curtains.
The neighbor’s house was on fire.
“Our neighbor was outside yelling,
I saw that his trash can was on fire,”
Rubright said.
Rubright, along with his wife, two
daughters and pet dog hurriedly left
the house, anxious theirs would be
the next engulfed in flames. And it
was.
Shortly after midnight July 5, when
4th of July fireworks in Burt’s
Crossing subdivision off Hwy. 9 had
subsided into smoke, Dawson County
Emergency Services would respond
to three structure fires on the main
drive of the subdivision. An hour later
all that remained of the houses at 38
48, and 60 Burt’s Crossing Drive
were the wooden frames.
Dawson County Fire Chief Danny
Thompson said Thursday morning
that the initial call came in at 12:15
a.m. and that personnel were on scene
five minutes later. The fire was con
tained within the hour by Dawson
County units, as well as mutual aid
from Forsyth County.
Eleven people were displaced once
See Fires 14A
Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Three homes on Burt's Crossing Drive were
destroyed after a fire around midnight July 5.
Photos by Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Renee Mullen from Woodstock paints the face of Harrison Gilberg like his favorite superhereo The
Flash at the Sparks in the Motorsports Park event July 4. Gilberg came with his family from Las Vegas
to celebrate his fifth birthday in style, with fireworks and fun.
Board denies
Chestatee plan
change request
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Residents of the Chestatee subdivision off Ga.
400 are celebrating a victory after the Dawson
County Board of Commissioners voted to deny the
subdivision developer’s request to amend the site’s
master plan.
Developer Brian Ferris went before the planning
commission on May 15, asking to reduce the size of
34 lots in a portion of the subdivision known as
Finkside from 100 feet wide to 70 feet wide.
Doing so would allow for 11 additional lots in the
Finkside section, which already has 11 lots devel
oped. Ferris said that decreasing the lot size would
help him sell the lots faster, but residents were out
raged, stating that Ferris would allow cheap homes
to be built in the subdivision that did not match the
design standards of the rest of Chestatee.
County staff recommended approval of Ferris’
plans, but after public outcry, the planning commis
sion voted to recommend that the board of commis
sioners deny the request.
After a similar showing of over 100 Chestatee
Dawsonville celebrates July 4
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
The fifth annual Sparks in the
Motorsports Park concluded with a
bang Wednesday night as locals and
out of town guests enjoyed an
impressive fireworks display at
Atlanta Motorsports Park.
As soon as gates opened at 5 p.m.
cars piled with families lined up for
their chance to secure parking as
the annual event draws a larger
crowd each year.
Plenty of on-site activities kept
both children and adults happy as
they waited for the fireworks to kick
off when the sun went down.
A bouncy house, face painting
and a balloon making station were
popular with the kids, but nothing
could top the popularity of the
inflatable water slide which kids
excitedly slid down fully clothed to
stay cool in the July heat.
Vendors serving ice cream,
shaved ice, pizza, wings, funnel
cakes and more that were hits with
the patrons as they grabbed some
dinner and snacks and walked
around the track to watch race cars
in the pro drifter show whizzing
around.
Shade provided by the shadow of
the parking garages was a popular
spot to set up blankets and chairs as
spectators tried to keep cool while
members of AMP secured their
spots on the balcony overlooking
the track.
Five music from the Pain Killers
kept the large crowd entertained
Above, kids sit
at the fence
around the
track watching
cars taking pit
stops to
change driv
ers. Left, the
inflatable
waterslide
was the big
gest hit with
the kids at the
motorsports
park during
the 4th of July
festivities.
until it was time to gaze up at the The event is sponsored by AMP
sky to see bright pops of color and the Dawsonville Downtown
shimmering down to the ground. Development Authority.
See Denies 12A
Runoff advance voting
continues through July 20
From staff reports
Advance voting for the July 24 runoff primary elec
tion runs through July 20.
Voting will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday at the Board of Elections Office, at 96
Academy Ave. in Dawsonville.
There will be no Saturday voting.
The runoff will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. July 24
at assigned voting precincts.
Republican runoffs will be held for the offices of
governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state.
Brian Kemp, Georgia’s current Secretary of State,
will face off against Ft. Gov. Casey Cagle for the
Republican nomination for governor. The winner of
this runoff will go against Democrat Stacey Abrams,
who secured her party’s position in May, in
November’s election.
State Rep. Geoff Duncan from Cumming and State
Sen. David Shafer from Duluth are competing for the
Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Sarah
Riggs Amico, a businesswoman who lives in
Kennesaw, is the Democratic nominee for that position.
Former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle and Brad
Raffensperger, a businessman who lives in Johns
Creek, are on the Republican ballot for secretary of
state. Former Congressman John Barrow, a Democrat
from Athens, will run against the runoff winner in
November.
The Democratic ballot for the July 24 runoff will
only have one position. Sid Chapman and Otha
Thornton are both running for state school superinten
dent. Richard Woods, the current superintendent, will
be running again as a Republican.
Those who did not vote in the May primary will be
able to vote in the runoff. If you voted in the primary
you cannot switch party ballots.
A sample ballot can be found at www.mvp.sos.ga.
gov.
90994 04002
Inside
Volume 3, Number 41
© 2018, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
8B
Dear Abby
7B
Deaths
2A
Legals
9B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
3A Residents
hold annual
golf cart
parade
5A Race for Grace
5K set for
Saturday
