About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 18, 2021)
Lady Tigers volleyball team starts season undefeated, sports, ib Nothing but sunshine at annual Chamber Golf Classic, inside, 3b DawsonCountyNews WEDNESDAY I AUGUST 18, 2021 DaWSOflNeWS ^com DAWSONVULE, GEORGIA $1.00 Emergency rooms near full capacity Dawson Emergency Services warns of potential changes By Jacob Smith jsmith@dawsonnews.com Throughout the past few days, local hospitals started notifying Dawson County Emergency Services that their emergency rooms are nearing full capacity. “There’s a trickle-down effect that happens for us now,” Fire Chief and EMA Director Danny Thompson said. “Once we contact a hospital they would let us know if they are in diversion, or a full emergency room. “We then ask the patient under our transportation and care if they are will ing to go to a different hospital. If not, there will be extended wait times at their preferred location or even a chance of still having to change hospitals if the patient requires admittance.” Thompson clarified that even under diversion, Dawson ES will still drive a patient to their hospital of choice, but that those different roadblocks might be present once arriving, which would result in longer transport times. As of last week, Northside Forsyth is at 83.8 percent capacity and Northeast Georgia Medical Center Lumpkin is at 51.5 percent capacity, according to www.data.rgj .com. Dawson ES posted on their Facebook account to spread the word about the potential changes to their daily services. The rise in hospital capacity is due in part to spiking COVID-19 cases throughout the metro-Atlanta area. According to the Department of Public Health website, COVID-19 cases in Dawson County have continued to go up from the beginning to the end of July 2021, with 10 confirmed cases between July 17 and July 23 and 36 confirmed cases between July 24 and July 30. According to the website, Dawson County has seen a total of 2,833 con firmed COVID-19 cases to date. “The Delta is a variant of the COVID- 19, it’s not a new different COVID,” Dr. Larry Anderson, chairman for the Dawson County Health Board and phy sician at Anderson Family Medicine said. “It has to do with the proteins that are on the virus; it mutates a little bit.” C A great success 5 Outdoor Expo highlights local outdoor businesses By Jacob Smith jsmith@dawsonnews.com The Metro Market Media Outdoor Expo was held at Iron Mountain Park in Dahlonega on Saturday, Aug. 14. Over 200 people came and learned more about 11 local companies promoting health and wellness for the North Georgia area. “We thank our sponsor John Megel Chevrolet, and partners Ruby’s Recipes and JB JAMs for making the 2021 Outdoor Expo a suc cess,” Metro Market Media Director of Revenue Leah Nelson said. “Attendees reg istered to win a golf cart from Lanier Carts and one lucky winner received the call today. We look forward to more vendors and activi ties in our 2022 event.” Appalachian Armory was one of the businesses at Saturday’s event. Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1030 head Ret. Col. Steve A. Masak said he has been attending the event for years and has always found great results. “Everyone was so pleasant and nice,” Masak said. “Money goes to a good cause and you are so supportive of veterans. The community as a whole has been very great to us. Within the first month, we already got back the money we paid for our raffle items.” JoAnn Sutter with Damsel in Defense said she saw a great amount of business while at the event and was going around to several expos in the Southeast to spread awareness about her self-defense products. “I came out here today for the opportunity to share my personal protection products See Expo 18A Jacob Smith Dawson County News The Outdoor Expo at Iron Mountain Park in Dahlonega hosted over 200 people on Saturday, Aug. 14. AgriScience center honors Slaton’s mark on schools By Erica Schmidt eschmidt@dawsonnews.com The Dawson County School System has officially announced that the new AgriScience Center, scheduled to open next fall at Dawson County High School, will be named the Dawson County Schools Roger D. Slaton AgriScience Center, in honor of late board member Roger Slaton. According to Superintendent Damon Gibbs, the decision to name the new build ing after Slaton is a fitting way for the school system to honor him and the mark he left on the county and its schools through his extensive service with the Board of Education. “Mr. Slaton served the children of Dawson County as a board member for 36 years,” Gibbs said. “Mr. Slaton was See Slaton 16A Haunted Ghost Walk coming to Dawsonville By Jacob Smith jsmith@dawsonnews.com Know anybody who loves ghosts? Haunted tales? The dark? Make sure to send them straight to the inaugural Dawsonville Haunted Ghost Walk Tour this Halloween. The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, along with the City of Dawsonville and the Dawson County Historical Society, plan to host four nights leading up to Oct. 31 of a haunted tour through downtown Dawsonville. Customers will start at the Hall of Fame and travel through spots on the square like the Dawsonville City Cemetery, the Town Jail, Old Courthouse and the Dawsonville Pool Room. Each spot will have a unique, creepy ghost story waiting. See Ghost 12A 0 9 0 9 9 4 Inside Volume 7, Number 30 © 2021, Dawson County News Dawsonville, Georgia Church Events 2A Classifieds 7B Dear Abby 6B Deaths 2A Legals 7B Opinion 5A Sports 1B 3A Students start back on track thanks to supply drive 7A Chief Financial Officer Ulrich retiring from Dawson County Schools * EXCELLENCE AT HEART IS BACK IN GAINESVILLE After over a year, a team of Georgia's top cardiologists are returning to care for you — right here in your neighborhood. Trust your heart to the experts of the Northside System. Visit us at northsidecvi.com/gainesville or call 404.962.6000 to schedule an appointment today. Allison Dupont MD, FSCAI, FACC Interventional Cardiology Mark Leimbach MD, FSCAI, FACC Interventional Cardiology Jeffrey Marshall MD, MSCAI, FACC Chief, Northside Hospital Cardiovascular Institute Pradyumna Tummala MD, FSCAI, FACC Interventional Cardiology 1276 Jesse Jewell Parkway, Gainesville, GA 30501 BH NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL CARDIOVASCULAR INSTITUTE • EXCELLENCE
