About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (July 11, 2018)
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
