About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (March 16, 2022)
2A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, March 16,2022 OBITUARIES Ethel Louise Benefield Ethel Louise Benefield, 98, of Cumming, died Thursday, March 10, 2022. A graveside funeral service was held at 3:00 p.m., Sunday, March 13, at Haw Creek Baptist Church Cemetery. Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming was in charge of the arrangements. Dawson County News March 16, 2022 Concetta Rizzuto "Connie" Brooks Concetta Rizzuto “Connie” Brooks, 93, of Duluth, died March 10, 2022. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, March 17, at Ingram Funeral Home. Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming is in charge of the arrangements. Dawson County News March 16, 2022 George Phillips Ingram George Phillips Ingram, 86, of Cumming, died March 10, 2022. A funeral service was held at 4:00 p.m., Monday, March 14, at First Baptist Church Cumming. Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming was in charge of the arrange ments. Dawson County News March 16, 2022 Deanna Mullinax Deanna Mullinax, 79, of Cumming, died Tuesday, March 8, 2022. A funeral service was held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 12, at Bearden Funeral Home Chapel. Bearden Funeral Home of Dawsonville was in charge of the arrangements. Dawson County News March 16, 2022 FROM 1A Torre and disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds; entering and remaining in certain rooms in the Capitol building; and disorderly conduct in a Capitol building will be dis missed at the time of sentencing. Torre was one of more than 700 Americans charged in the Capitol riot. Before Torre entered a plea, U.S. Department of Justice pros ecutor Katherine Nielsen explained that if the court was to proceed to trial, prosecutors could prove that Torre traveled with his family to Washington D.C. on Jan. 4, 2021 with the intent to protest Congress’ certi fication of the election of President Joe Biden. Nielsen said Torre attended Donald Tramp’s “Stop the Steal” rally and march on Jan. 6, 2021 then about 3 p.m., climbed through a broken Capitol win dow. Once inside, Torre entered a U.S. Senate lounge and the office of Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, of Oregon. While inside the rooms, Nielsen stated that Torre took pictures and commented to other protesters how “wild” events were before eventually climbing out the same broken window he had entered. Torre admitted to entering the Capitol with knowl edge that he didn’t have permis sion to be there and that he will fully picketed. U.S. District of Columbia Judge Rudolph Contreras explained that the sentencing would have to be scheduled in July because district probation officers are overwhelmed with creating pre-trial statements for all of the Jan. 6 defendants. Contreras told Torre that he could be sentenced to six months in prison, five years of probation, fines of up to $5,000, restitution for victims who sustained loss as part of offense and a fine to pay the government for any cost of infringement. Since parole has been abol ished for federal charges, Torre would serve a prison sentence in full and would not be released early, Contreras said. The judge added later that he didn’t know the exact sentence he would impose yet because he needs to hear more from lawyers and the probation officer in charge of Torre. Before a sentencing hearing, a pre-trial sentencing report will be created, requiring Torre’s proba tion officer to interview him. At the time of sentencing, Torre and his lawyer will have the opportu nity to speak on his behalf. Torre will be on pretrial release until the sentencing. xnamex Dawson County News Judge Kathlene Gosselin listens as Senior ADA Conley Greer, left, tells Daniel Roberts and his attorney, right, about the expected length of a trial for Roberts' 2021 case. FROM 1A Roberts be constrained, she would see about coming over to the Dawson County Courthouse for a pretrial hearing. Similarly, scheduling constraints were cited as a main reason for having Roberts’ trial later in 2022. Senior Assistant District Attorney Conley Greer predicted a trial would last eight days, given the evidence and witnesses. Roberts also has a pending aggravated assault case against him from 2019, but he and his lawyer are still waiting for more discovery on that matter. Documents for the older case alleged that after getting in a ver bal disagreement with one vic tim, he hit them while leaving a Dawson-area parking lot on Oct. 23, 2019. After being arrested that same night, Roberts was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during commission of a crime and car rying a concealed weapon and reckless driving. When the incident with Kaleb Duckworth happened, Roberts was actually out on a $20,200 bond for another case from 2019. Roberts allegedly caused Duckworth’s death because of a fight at the Dawson County Applebee’s on July 25, 2021. He has been indicted on two counts of felony murder, aggra vated assault and aggravated bat tery for the newer case. That indictment alleges that Roberts punched the younger Dawsonville teen with a closed fist, causing serious brain dam age. After the fight, Duckworth was taken to a hospital with severe brain trauma and died on July 27. Bond for the 2021 case was initially denied. Following his July arrest, bond for the older case was subse quently revoked on Aug. 31, 2021. Court documents from that time cited that he violated condi tions of the 2019 bond by alleg edly committing new offenses. A pretrial officer reported that so far, Roberts has been keeping with his pretrial terms since his bail was set at $100,000 on Dec. 14, 2021 (for a total $110,200 bond). He was released from Dawson County Sheriff’s Office custody on Dec. 23. Sharon (Shari) Brain Nunez Sharon (Shari) Brain Nunez, 57, of Cumming, died March 12, 2022. A celebration of Shari’s life will occur at 1:00 p.m., Saturday March 19, at Ingram’s Funeral Home. Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming is in charge of the arrangements. Dawson County News March 16, 2022 Janet Leona Robertson Janet Leona Robertson passed away Friday, February 25, 2022. A funeral service was held at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, March 12, at the Ingram Funeral Home Chapel. Ingram Funeral Home of Cumming was in charge of the arrange ments. Dawson County News March 16, 2022 King Crossword ACROSS 40 Three, in actress Emma 1 Soak up the Rome 10 Top-of-the-line sun 42 JFK's vessel 11 Compared to 5 Joke 45 Brother's son 19 Hesitant 8 Sports figure? 49 Leveling sound 12 Penne — wedge 21 Objectivist vodka 50 Jurist Fortas Rand 13 Playwright 52 "I did it!" 24 More (Sp.) Levin 53 Antitoxins 25 Popular card 14 "Oops!" 54 " — the season game 15 Picnic spoiler ..." 26 Lark, for one 16 Vacuum's lack 55 Ireland 28 Very long time 17 Novelist Jaffe 56 Tiny amounts 29 Fastidious trait 18 Chinese food 57 Six-pack mus 30 Yoko of music assortment cles 31 Collar 20 Some mixolo 58 Head, to Henri 36 Scents gists 37 La-la lead-in 22 Docs' org. DOWN 38 Music for 23 "Uh-huh" 1 Poet of yore seven 24 Tousle 2 Jai — 41 Concerning 27 "Locksley 3 Slender 42 "Hey!" Hall" poet 4 Sunflower 43 Ellington's 32 Year in Mexico State "Take - Train" 33 Sock part 5 "Billions" actor 44 "Toodle-oo!" 34 Stop — dime Paul 46 Aesopian also- 35 Short recital 6 "Exodus" hero ran piece 7 Attire 47 Tend texts 38 Uppity one 8 "Oklahoma!" 48 Fade away 39 Spike's warn carriage 51 Clothing pro ing 9 Oscar-winning tector © 2022 King Features Synd., Inc. 3 1 3 N 1 y 3 V a V 1 M 3 H d N O s A N N d 3 A N 3 l/\l y V al V N 0 « i H O H n v 1 V 1 s y l/\l n s l/\l 1 a v i N 1 V y 1 v 1 1 V 9 s V a County opposes state land use bills By Julia Fechter jfechter@dawsonnews.com Just like their counterparts to the direct south, the Dawson County Board of Commissioners recently approved a resolution opposing two state bills that would functionally prevent local governments from regulating build-to-rent communities. Dawson County unanimously passed a resolution opposing HB 1093 and SB 494 during their March 3 vot ing session. HB 1093 would disallow municipalities from “enacting or enforcing any restrictions on residential rent al agreements of over 30 days,” while SB 494 would pre vent city councils from prohibiting fully-rental complexes. The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners passed a similar resolution at their work session on Tuesday, Feb. 22, as reported in an earlier Forsyth County News article. Law firm Jarrard & Davis represents both the Dawson and Forsyth County governments, as well as numerous other localities in northeastern Georgia. County Attorney Jeff Strickland described the bills as pieces of legislation that, at the state level, would force the counties to adhere and allow certain types of development without having the opportunity to exercise zoning and land-use decision processes. “If I understand this correctly, it’s just pretty well taking away local control and giving it to developers?”, said District 1 Commissioner Sharon Fausett. “In the space of build-to-rent, that [kind of legislation] is becoming more popular,” District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines added. “I think a lot of our stipulations locally that we put in place on developments prohibit a percentage of rentals in order to protect the homeowners.” Gaines alluded to a Dawson County subdivision in the near past that evolved into a fully-rental one with negative outcomes as a result. Furthermore, the bills, if passed, would make govern ments found in violation of the rales subject to pay mone tary damages and lose out on financial assistance or funds from the state’s Department of Community Affairs. This proposed legislation comes in light of rapid growth over the past decade in North Georgia above Atlanta. A previous DCN article reported that Dawson County is the third-fastest growing county in Georgia, with adjacent Forsyth, Cherokee and Hall counties ranking first, second and fourth respectively. Like many other areas of the country, rents and property prices have risen across northern Georgia in recent years and in part contributed to homelessness. Ultimately, a decision about the two bills is in the hands of Georgia’s General Assembly. ^ Daws o n C o u nty N e ws A Metro Market Media Publication Established in 2015 by the merger of Dawson Community News and Dawson News and Advertiser 30 Shoal Creek Road i PUBLISHER | Stephanie Woody Dawsonville, GA 30534 PHONE (706) 265-3384 EDITOR | Erica Jones FAX (706) 265-3276 usps 018-876 | Updates online at DawsonNews rii Display advertising For Wednesday: Retail and Classified deadlines are 3 p.m. Friday Classified liners (help wanted, for sale, etc.) For Wednesday: Deadline is noon Monday Advertising rates available upon request. To subscribe to the Dawson County News: ONE YEAR | $79.99 TWO YEARS | $149.99 For our digital subscription offerings, go to dawsonnews.com/subscribe Published Wednesdays by the Dawson County News Co., 30 Shoal Creek Road, Dawsonville, GA 30534. Second-class postage paid at Dawsonville, Ga., and additional offices. 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