About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 12, 2022)
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. INDUSTRY PARTNER WE DELIVER! divisions GEORGIA'S FINEST of PINE STRAW & MULCH Farm Fresh Sod Bermuda Sod $200°° per paiiet Price subject to change. All Varieties of Rock now Available TOFTUF Rebel •TifTuf Bermuda •Rebel Fescue »TifBlair Centipede •ZeonZoysia cfy&tod * Marvel Zoysia Price subject to change and product availability, Price subject to change and product availability. 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