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Tigers stay undefeated
with win over Denmark
SPORTS, IB
DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I SEPTEMBER 19, 2018 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
Photos by Allie Dean Dawson County News
Chris Gaines and Ken Goines tow abandoned dock floats out of the water on Sept. 15 as part of the
30th annual Shore Sweep on Lake Lanier.
Shore Sweep marks 30 years
of keeping Lake Lanier clean
Asst, public
defender
dies at 63
Longtime attorney suffers
heart attack at courthouse
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
David Turk, assistant public defender for the
Northeastern Judicial Circuit, died at the Dawson
County government center last week.
Stephen Gurr, senior investigator at the Hall
County Public Defender office, said Monday that
Turk, 63, died from a massive heart attack shortly
before noon Sept. 14 in a courthouse elevator.
“He was truly one of a kind,” said Brad Morris,
the public defender for the Northeastern Circuit,
who knew Turk for 30 years. “Very bright, caring,
with a loving heart. Anyone who was around David
for a significant period grew to relish these quali
ties. David’s essence was deep.”
Local attorney Joey Homans also knew Turk for
30 years, originally meeting when they both worked
in the District Attorney’s office in the late 1980s.
See Turk 18A
A group of Rotarians pose with some of the trash pulled out of Lake
Lanier and the surrounding shore on Sept. 15. Pictured from left are
Ken Goines, Chris Gaines, Tony Passarello, Curtis Hill, Kasen Hill,
Pepper Pettit, JeanneTompkins, Gordon Brand and Randy Wells.
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
Around 125 volunteers gathered at
War Hill Park on Saturday, Sept. 15
to help clean Lake Lanier at the 30th
annual Shore Sweep event.
War Hill Park is one of 11 locations
where volunteers went to pull trash
from the lake and its shores. Each
year, thousands of pounds of trash are
collected and taken to local landfills
by over 1,000 volunteers.
“The event started 30 years ago and
at that point consisted of mostly
homeowners on the lake who wanted
to come together and help keep their
community clean,” said Wilton
Rooks, President of Lake Lanier
Association. “Now it has grown to
include homeowners, marina employ
ees, those who enjoy boating and
other organizations and individuals in
or near Hall County.”
Though Shore Sweep is held one
Saturday in September, the initiative
runs for two to three weeks before the
main event.
“We always have several advance
drop-off locations around the lake, so
if someone wants to help out and they
aren’t available on the event day, they
are more than welcome to collect
trash and drop it off whenever they
See Sweep 17A
Detention officer
fired after arrest
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
A Dawson County detention officer has been
served a termination notice after he turned himself
in to Lumpkin County authorities
Sept. 11.
John Michael Kormos, 30, faces
charges of battery and reckless con
duct after an altercation with his
estranged wife during which a fire
arm was discharged.
The incident occurred Sept. 8 at a
residence on John Dowdy Road in
Dahlonega.
In an incident report, Lumpkin
County Sheriff’s Office deputy Jacob Smith stated
that he responded to a call in reference to a male
attempting to commit suicide with a firearm.
See Officer 18A
Kormos
Operations of school system discussed at learning academy
By Jessica Brown
jbrown@dawsonnews.com
At the first day of the inaugural
1 Dawson Learning Academy,
participants got an in-depth look
at the operational side of the
school system as topics of
employment, energy efficiency,
nutrition, safety and finance were
discussed during the informal
meeting.
“Our goal today and next week
is to really provide you with oper
ational information about the
school system but more impor
tantly hopefully prompt some
questions about how we operate,”
said Superintendent Damon
Gibbs.
Those gathered at the
Professional Development Center
Sept. 11 learned the behind the
scenes information from the
human resources, finance, facili
ties and maintenance, transporta
tion, operations and nutrition
departments.
Due to the nature of human
resources and finance, Chief
Human Resource Officer Lisa
Perry said the two departments
work closely together.
Perry and her assistant Jenna
Brown are responsible for the
315 certified staff and 226 classi
fied staff members of the school
system and working with the
Finance Director Jamie Ulrich’s
four-person department to ensure
they receive salary and benefits.
Of the $47 million general fund
budget that was set earlier this
year, 85 percent of the budget
goes directly toward salary and
benefits.
“We spend $50 million a year
and we have 540 employees. We
have six total employees that deal
with those two areas,” Gibbs said.
The finance department has a
reputation for excellence as it is
one of 11 districts in Georgia that
have received the Award of
Distinction for Excellent
Financial Reporting from the
Georgia Department of Audits for
the past five years.
See Learning 18A
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Inside
Volume 3, Number 52
© 2018, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
7B
Dear Abby
6B
Deaths
2A
Legals
8B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
3A Veterans
3 Gun to host
charity fishing
tournament
5A First responders
group looking
for volunteers
We're all
grown up.
m
NORTHS1DE HOSPITAL
FORSYTH WOMEN’S CENTER
Celebrating
10 years
of delivering precious gifts