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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, January 12,2022
Dawsonville couple leaves behind legacy of care
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
After 71 years of mar
riage, Dawsonville resi
dent Rev. James
“Palmour” Loggins, 94,
died at his home on Jan. 3,
followed by his beloved
wife Doris Hulsey
Loggins, 87, the following
day.
They leave behind a leg
acy of love for each other,
their family and their
communities.
In their house, they kept
a written ode to previous
years, which described
their coming of age in a
time before conveniences
including penicillin, credit
cards, youth and elder
care, word processors, ball
point pens or microwaves.
James met Doris in late
1949, and their first date
was to church at
Dewberry no. 2 in Hall
County.
“It was love at first
sight. I thought she was
the most beautiful girl I
had ever saw! I still do!
Our romance began and
has continued to bloom in
the sweet fragrance of life
to this day,” James wrote.
The couple wed on Oct.
18, 1950 at the home of
Hoke Smith, a justice of
the peace, in Hall County.
Their first home only
cost $15 a month to rent.
Meanwhile, James worked
at a sawmill in Hall
County for $28 a week.
Back then, that was
enough money to pay for
rent, groceries and fire
wood.
They welcomed their
first child Diane, in 1951,
followed by Melvin,
Connie, Ray, Weba and
Emmanueal in subsequent
years.
After becoming a
Christian in 1962 and
being called to preach,
James worked in ministry
for most of his married
Photo submitted to DCN
James "Palmour" Loggins and Doris Hulsey
Loggins wed in October 1950.
years. The first church he
pastored in Fairmont was
known as the “Flexible
Non-Denominational
Church.” He was ordained
through the Pentecostal
Evangelistic Association.
James served as senior
pastor at the Bethel
Tabernacle in Gainesville
for about 30 years through
the 1990s and served as an
associate pastor there until
his death.
“My grandpa would still
occasionally preach at
churches up until the past
year,” said grandson
Jeremy Austin.
James also worked as a
general handyman for the
Dawson County School
District, from which he
retired in the late 1990s
after working there for
over 20 years.
“Anything maintenance
or janitorial-related, he did
all of that for the schools
in the county,” Austin said.
Most of the time, James
worked on the high school
campus fixing whatever
was needed there.
The late Rev. Foggins
had a mantra that “Jesus
could fix anything that’s
broken, but a little duct
tape will also fix things,”
Austin recalled.
Meanwhile, Doris
worked as a seamstress at
the Hasco sewing factory
for many years. Over the
years, she took three mis
sion trips to Haiti, one of
which James attended.
After she retired, she
offered in-home babysit
ting for area clients. Many
of them worked as teach
ers in Dawson County’s
schools.
Among others, Doris
babysat Beth Covington,
who now works as a
Finance Executive
Assistant for the school
district. Covington said
Doris looked after her
from the time she was 18
months old until third or
fourth grade.
Covington agreed with
others’ observations that
the Foggins’ union was “a
love story like the mov
ies.”
“She was like a grand
mother. She loved you
like you were her own
and made sure you were
taken care of,” Covington
said.
She added that no matter
how old she and other chil
dren who were babysat
grew, Doris would still
greet them in public and
“love them like her own.”
Note: A separate obituary
about the Loggins is includ
ed in the Jan. 12 edition of
DCN
Award of $1 million will address court case backlog in Dawson County
by Nick Watson
DCN Regional Staff
Hall County’s Court
Administrator Jason
Stephenson said court
officials are hoping to set
a “fast pace” for 2022 to
fix its backlog of cases,
especially with an addi
tional $1 million in fund
ing from the American
Rescue Plan Act.
The Judicial Council of
Georgia announced the
awards Dec. 22 as part of
the $110 million allocated
by Gov. Brian Kemp to
address the court backlog
created by the COVID-19
pandemic.
The council said 26
judicial circuits, including
Hall and Dawson coun-
ties’ Northeastern
Judicial Circuit, received
nearly $25 million in total
funding.
The Northeastern
Judicial Circuit received
its total request of
$1,081,610, according to
the judicial council.
“We knew that taking
care of this backlog
would take more resourc
es than we had ... The
judges are thrilled to
receive the additional
support and hopeful it
will offer an opportunity
to build some additional
capacity, from judges to
interpreters, to prosecu
tors (and) defense attor
neys,” Stephenson said.
Stephenson did not
have any specific metrics
for the court’s goals in
reducing the backlog this
year. There are currently
about 1,500 unindicted
cases in Dawson County.
Stephenson said the
funds are immediately
available. Once the funds
are spent, the county can
submit for reimburse
ment.
The courts are looking
to hire eight full-time
positions that will span
the district attorney’s
office, the clerks’ office,
court administration and
pretrial services.
“Some of those posi
tions will be posted as
soon as [this] week for
applications,” Stephenson
said.
The court’s application
for funding included three
positions for the district
attorney’s office: an assis
tant district attorney, an
investigator and an
administrative assistant.
The funding for those
three positions was just
short of $300,000.
One of the biggest
changes was expediting
the plan to bring on a
fourth Juvenile Court
judge who will work on
some Superior Court
cases in the interim.
The fourth judge will
handle civil and domestic
cases in Superior Court
so that the five Superior
Court judges can handle
the more serious criminal
cases.
After this year, that
judge will likely split
time between Juvenile
and Superior Courts.
Stephenson said the
salary for the judge is
$165,393. With retire
ment and benefits, the
total compensation is
$215,541.
Stephenson said the
legal notice for the
judgeship was set to
appear in The Times this
week.
The ad for applications
will run for three
months, and the Superior
Court judges are expect
ed to make the appoint
ment in mid-March,
Stephenson said.
According to the Hall
County government’s
website, a Juvenile Court
judge must be “at least
30 years of age, a citizen
of the state for at least
three years, and have
practiced law for at least
five years.”
Of the $110 million
allocated, $96 million
was for the courts and
prosecutors with the rest
going to the Georgia
Public Defender Council.
The Northeastern
Judicial Circuit public
defenders’ office also
received funding to hire
another public defender.
Northeastern Judicial
Circuit Public Defender
Brad Morris was not
immediately available to
discuss the matter
Tuesday, Jan. 4.
While Stephenson said
the court hopes to move
at a fast pace through
this backlog, the court is
facing a resurgence of
COVID cases in the
community.
Chief Superior Court
Judge Kathlene Gosselin
extended her order
regarding COVID safety
measures, which was set
to expire at the end of the
year, to Feb. 28.
The order strongly
encouraged virtual hear
ings when possible and
mandated face coverings
in all public spaces.
Judge Deal is sched
uled to have the next trial
week in Dawson County
starting Jan. 24, said
Stephenson.
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