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Residents, officials
mark 9/11 anniversary
LOCAL, 3A
WEDNESDAY I SEPTEMBER 12, 2018 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
Dawson still ranks high in suicides
Local officials look to lower rate as national prevention week begins
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
It’s a topic not talked about
enough and word that still comes
in the form of a whisper: Suicide.
In June 2018, the Center for
Disease Control reported that sui
cide rates in Georgia have
increased by 16 percent from
1999 to 2016, with 1,452 deaths
by suicide confirmed in the state
just last year.
A 2017 report from Georgia’s
Commission on Children’s men
tal Health stated that suicide was
the third leading cause of death
for ages 10-24 in Georgia in
2015, with 51 children between
the ages of 5 and 17 killing them
selves in 2015 and 2016.
On a more local level, the
Georgia Department of Public
Health reports that there have
been 78 suicides in Dawson
County between 1997 and 2017.
“There is nobody in this com
munity that wants to see suicide
rates go down more than me and
my staff,” said Dawson County
Coroner Ted Bearden.
Working on suicide cases is
very difficult for Bearden as fam
ilies are left heartbroken and
looking for answers that can’t be
provided.
“Sometimes the answer’s not
there,” he said.
In 2017, there were six suicides
in the county - the same year that
Dawson was ranked eighth out of
159 counties in the state for sui
cide as a cause of death.
“For a county our size that’s
pretty high,” Bearden said.
Dawson County has a population
of around 24,000 people.
From 2013 to 2015, the
Georgia Department of Public
Health reported that Dawson
County had the highest rate of
suicide of all reported counties in
the state, at 33.4 per 100,000 peo
ple.
While the county is no longer
leading the state in deaths by sui
cide, Region 1 - which includes
Dawson and north Georgia - still
has a suicide rate higher than the
state average.
Rural counties, which include
See Suicide 17A
Dawsonville man brings
bed-building charity to area
Photos by Jessica Brown Dawson County News
Rik Roberts and Skip Sevier attach the last boards on the top bunk bed during the team bed build Sept. 8.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace now serving Dawson
After each bed is completed, they are branded with the Sleep in Heavenly
Peace logo.
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
“It’s Mike Rowe’s
fault,” said Skip Sevier as
he wiped a tear from his
eye.
When Sevier and his
wife, Veronica, sat down
one February day to watch
Mike Rowe’s Facebook
series, “Returning the
Favor,” their hearts were
broken as they watched
volunteers building beds
for children who were
sleeping on the floor.
Rowe, of Dirty Jobs
fame, began a web series
highlighting people who
give back to their commu
nities in August 2017. It
wasn’t until an episode
featuring Sleep in
Heavenly Peace debuted
Feb. 13 caught the Sevier’s
attention and changed their
lives.
Sleep in Heavenly Peace
began in December 2017
in a garage in Twin Falls,
Idaho as a way to provide
one family with a bed for
children in need, and grew
into a network of volun
teers who sought to pro
vide free beds for children
who don’t have beds of
their own.
“We saw the show and
we were both in tears by
the time it was over, and I
said ‘I’ve got to get ahold
of those people,”’ said
Skip Sevier, who was so
touched by the episode
that he decided to begin a
local chapter in
Dawsonville.
On Sept. 8, Sevier
opened his home to nine
fellow volunteers for the
SHP Dawsonville chap
ter’s inaugural bed build
with the goal of complet
ing the components for 10
beds, or five bunks, by the
end of the day.
Under the cover of the
Appalachian forest,
sounds of palm sanders
and saws filled the air as
See Beds 16A
Judge says
no to Tisdale
trial request
Citizen journalist says she
will go to court of appeals
ByAllie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Nearly four years to the date of her arrest at
Burt’s Pumpkin Farm and nine months after she
was found guilty of misdemeanor obstruction of an
officer, Nydia Tisdale’s motion for a new trial was
denied by a Dawson County Superior Court judge.
After a week-long trial, the self-
proclaimed citizen journalist was
sentenced Dec. 18 to serve 12
months of probation, 40 hours of
community service and pay a
$1,000 fine for her August 2014
altercation with a Dawson County
law enforcement officer.
Tisdale was found not guilty of
felony obstruction of an officer and
misdemeanor criminal trespass;
charges that stemmed from her forced removal from
Burt’s Pumpkin Farm in Dawsonville, where she
was filming a Republican Party campaign rally.
See Tisdale 17A
Racing legend’s
wife remembered
ByAllie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
With her sparkling blue eyes, contagious smile and
love for life and people, Vaudell Sosebee, wife of the
late racing pioneer Gober Sosebee, is remembered
fondly by the Dawsonville community after her death
Sept. 6 at the age of 93.
Sosebee was a longtime volunteer at the Georgia
Racing Hall of Fame, where she gave countless tours
and spread her knowledge of the sport that put
Dawsonville on the map.
“If a guest came in she did not just tell them to tour
the museum, she personally carried them through the
museum, telling them stories and showing them
every little detail about the museum,” said fellow
GRHOF volunteer Faye Abercrombie. “She was the
See Sosebee 17A
Photos courtesy Angela Williamson for Dawson County News
Vaudell Sosebee, left, poses at a Relay for Life
Event in 2012. Sosebee died Sept. 6 at 93.
9 0 9 9
Inside
Volume 3, Number 51
© 2018, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
7B
Dear Abby
6B
Deaths
2A
Legals
8B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
4A Local woman
champions
child cancer
research
5A Group hosts
second drug
awareness expo
