About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2022)
Get to know senior tennis players Smith and Swafford. SPORTS, IB Businesses honor local lieutenant passing through. INSIDE, 3A ^DawsonCountyNews WEDNESDAY I MARCH 16,2022 DaWSOflNeWS >COnri DAWSONVULE, GEORGIA $1.00 Qualifying held for 2022 primary election State, federal congressional district maps changed after data collection for 2020 census By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com This past week, candidates qualified for the primary election on May 24. The general election will be on Nov. 8. State and federal congressional district maps changed after data collection for the 2020 census was completed this past fall. The voter registration deadline for the primary is April 25. In-person advance voting will take place at Dawsonville’s cen tral precinct only on May 2 between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and May 7 between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. The cen tral precinct is located at 96 Academy Avenue in Dawsonville. Dawson County Commissioner, District 1 • Jason Power, R • Seth Stowers, R Dawson County Commissioner, District 3 • Alexa Bruce, R • Deanna M. Dickinson, R Dawson County School District, at large • Nathan Ingram, R Dawson County School District, Post 3 • Karen Marie Armstrong, R Georgia House of Representatives, District 7 • David Ralston, R, incum bent Georgia House of Representatives, District 9 • Tyler Tolin, R • Will Wade, R, incumbent Georgia Senate, District 51 • Steve Gooch, R, incum bent Northeastern Judicial Circuit, District Attorney • Lee Darragh, R, incumbent Northeastern Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge, Deal • Jason Jonathan Deal, non-partisan incumbent Northeastern Judicial Circuit Superior Court Judge, Fuller • Lindsay Burton, non-partisan U.S. House of Representatives, Georgia's District 6 • Jake Evans, R • Byron Gatewood, R • Meagan Hanson, R • Blake Harbin, R • Rich McCormick, R • Paulette Smith, R • Mallory Staples, R • Suzi Voyles, R • Eugene Yu, R • Bob Christian, D • Wayne C. White, D Wright named Region 2 STAR student Wright is first DCHS student to win region since program’s inception Photo courtesy of Cherie Ferguson DCHS senior Megan Wright was recently awarded the title of PAGE STAR student for Region 2, and she and her STAR teacher Hope Honea will move on to the state contest in April. By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com This week, Dawson County High School senior Megan Wright was officially announced as the STAR stu dent for the region, with the highest SAT score out of 14 total students representing their local districts in Region 2. Each year, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Student Teacher Achievement Recognition (STAR) program recognizes high school seniors across Georgia who have high achievements and accom plishments in their high school career. Since its cre ation in 1958, the program has honored over 28,000 stu dents across the state. Seniors are selected as the STAR student for their school by achieving the highest SAT score and being in the top 10 percent or top 10 students in their class based on their GPA. Once each student is named as their local winner, they move on to compete against other winners in their region, and region winners move on to compete for state scholar ships and awards. Each local winner is asked to name a STAR teacher, who contin ues with their STAR student during every level of the program. Wright was named as Dawson County’s STAR stu dent in January and recog nized by the Dawsonville Lions Club, the local STAR program sponsor. She select ed Hope Honea, who she had for her AP World History class, as her STAR teacher. On Tuesday March 8, Wright and Honea, along with family members and several members of the DCHS administration, attended the region STAR banquet, where Wright’s SAT score was compared to those of all of the other stu dents in the 14-district region. Wright tied for the highest SAT score out of the whole group and was announced as the Region 2 winner. While region winners were based purely on SAT scores, each candidate was also responsible for a speech introducing themselves and their STAR teacher. Wright said that, when she heard her name called as the region’s STAR student, she was sur prised and excited. “I had the first speech because they did it in alpha betical order of the school systems so Dawson went first; I hadn’t prepared any thing major so I did my little introduction but then a lot of See Star 14A Dawsonville man pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol riot By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com A Dawsonville man pleaded guilty Wednesday for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol. Benjamin Torre, 24, pleaded guilty to the mis demeanor offense of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He waived his rights to a bench trial for the offense. Torre is expected to be sentenced at 10 a.m. on July 7, 2022. According to his plea agreement, the other charges of entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds; disorderly See Torre 12A Roberts trial could happen late summer By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com The Dawsonville defendant accused of killing 19-year-old Kaleb Duckworth will likely have a late summer trial. During a March 8 hearing, Northeastern Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Kathlene Gosselin predicted a July or August 2022 trial for 20-year-old Daniel Lee Roberts’ pending murder case. Roberts’ attorney said he finished receiv ing discovery for the 2021 case last month and asked for a pretrial hearing within the next 90 days. Gosselin said that while scheduling would See Roberts 12A 0 9 0 9 9 4 Inside Volume 8, Number 11 © 2021, Dawson County News Dawsonville, Georgia Church Events 2B Classifieds 6B Dear Abby 4B Deaths 2A Legals 7B Opinion 7A Sports 1B County envi sions future special needs field. 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