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6A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, March 16,2022
County envisions future special needs field
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
As part of SPLOST VII, voters last year approved the future
addition of a special-needs ball field at Dawson County's
Rock Creek Park.
By Julia Fechter
jf e c hte r@d a wson n ews. com
Dawson County’s Board of
Commissioners took some of the
first steps toward adding an
ADA-compatible or special
needs ball field to Rock Creek
Park during its March 3 work
session.
The commissioners approved a
request for the Parks and
Recreation Department to use
impact fees for getting a design
and cost estimate for budgetary
purposes.
During the Feb. 17 work ses
sion, Parks and Recreation
Director Matt Payne explained
that this field was listed as one of
the projects for SPLOST VII,
which voters recently approved
in 2021. He will come before the
board at a future date to request
the funds for the field’s construc
tion.
Payne said getting the county
an estimate sooner would help
them proceed with the project
sooner, too.
He elaborated that he talked
with Chief Financial Officer
Vickie Neikirk, Purchasing
Manager Melissa Hawk and
County Manager David Headley
about how to push the project
forward “because there is such a
huge need” and the accessible
field would be “such a wonderful
thing to have in our community.”
Payne added that he’d “love to
put it (a new field) on one of
Rock Creek Park’s cloverleaf
fields” in order to serve the most
people possible and also allow it
to be used as a regular field.
District 3 Commissioner Tim
Satterfield praised Payne and his
staff for the job they’ve done
with the department’s
“Exceptional People in our
Community” program.
“They deserve something like
this,” Satterfield said. “I think it’s
a huge need. I applaud you and
your staff for the program you’ve
built.”
BOC Chairman Billy
Thurmond agreed, saying that
he’s traveled with his grandson
who plays baseball and has seen
similar fields being well-used.
“It’s a great opportunity for our
citizens who may not have that
opportunity otherwise, so I
applaud that this wound up in
SPLOST [VII] and got approved
by the citizens,” Thurmond said.
“The faster we can get it done,
the faster they can use it.”
Upcoming county events
In related news, the second
annual “Guns and Hoses” event
will be hosted on Tuesday,
March 22 at Atlanta Motorsports
Park, starting at 2 p.m. The event
will include a go-cart driving
competition between personnel
at the Dawson County Sheriff’s
Office and Fire and Emergency
Services, David Headley said.
AMP is donating the go-kart
races as a “thank you” for the
service that both departments
provide to the community, Public
Affairs Officer Laura Fulcher
added.
Additionally, Family
Connection will host its annual
“Teen Maze” event for ninth
graders at Dawson County Junior
High School on Friday, April 1.
The event challenges students
to graduate high school and learn
a trade or go to college without
getting blocked by the many
obstacles faced in life that could
prevent them from achieving
their goals.
EMS will provide the event’s
opening scene simulation, a car
crash with an extraction.
Laura Fulcher will have a
booth to discuss electronic foot
prints with teenagers and help
them understand how what they
share on social media can affect
them for the rest of their lives,
Headley added.
Lumpkin man qualifies for state house
Defendant in Bender murder case will have May trial
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
A Lumpkin County resident has
qualified to run for Georgia’s State
House District 9 Seat.
Tyler Tolin, a former
Marine and Army Airborne
Ranger, will run for the
chance to become the next
state representative for the
district, which includes
parts of Dawson, Lumpkin
and White counties.
He qualified to run for
the position on Wednesday,
March 9. His qualification entry
lists a Dawsonville address that’s
in Lumpkin County.
District 9’s state house seat is
currently held by freshman Rep.
Will Wade. This election cycle
marks Tolin’s second time running
for the position.
Tolin’s campaign promotes him
as a patriotic candidate. In 1998, he
enlisted in the United States
Marine Corps. After seven years
and three units, he earned his way
to the Marine Corps anti-terrorism
unit Fast Company before deciding
to switch to the Army and served
as an Army Airborne Ranger for
tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’m running because of the
complete shift of the cur-
rent status of
Dawsonville ...it’s turned
into what I like to call
north Atlanta, and it’s
destroying the hometown
feel of the ninth district,”
Tolin said.
His other reasons for
running include to secure
better elections and to address the
need for more voter laws.
Tolin added he also wants to
stop the government’s bleeding of
individual freedoms and increase
parents’ say in what their children
are taught at public schools, espe
cially when it comes to subjects
like critical race theory in class
rooms.
“Overall, it’s about giving the
people a say in how their district
looks and is ran," he said.
Tolin
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
A criminal trial has just
been scheduled for one of the
remaining defendants in
21-year-old Hannah Bender’s
2019 murder case.
Bailey Diane Williams, 23,
will stand trial on May 2
starting at 9 a.m. within the
Lumpkin County Courthouse,
according to published legal
notices.
Lumpkin County belongs
to the Enotah Judicial Circuit,
which also includes Towns,
Union and White counties.
Authorities arrested
Williams in October 2019 and
charged her with tampering
with evidence. She allegedly
helped Austin Todd Stryker,
25, dispose of Bender’s
belongings on Sept. 15, 2019,
near a campground off of
Nimblewill Gap Road in
Lumpkin County.
This past fall, Stryker was
convicted on all counts of
murdering Bender in Dawson
County and sentenced to life
in prison without the possibil
ity of parole.
The other remaining defen
dant is the wife of Stryker,
23-year-old Elizabeth Brooke
Donaldson. She has been
arrested and charged with
concealing the death of
another and tampering with
evidence.
She allegedly helped move
Bender’s remains to a Blacks
Mill Road residence on Sept.
16, 2019, and strip interior
parts from the truck where
Bender was murdered.
Donaldson is expected to
have more court dates in
Dawson County later this
year.
In December 2021, Forsyth
County resident Jerry Harper,
80, was sentenced to 20 years
in prison and 10 years of pro
bation for helping Stryker
evade police and approving of
Bender’s murder.
Defendant Isaac Thomas
Huff, 20, received a sentence
of 12 years in prison and 18
years on probation for his role
in covering up Bender’s mur
der. Dylan Patrick Reid, 21,
got 20 years with 15 years on
probation for the additional
culpability of tampering with
evidence.
Huff and Reid testified
about their, Stryker’s and oth
ers’ involvement in a small
gang called “THIS” during
their joint plea and sentencing
hearing and Stryker’s trial.
They have both said that
Stryker’s motive to kill
Bender was tied to his belief
that she might go to police
about his alleged armed rob
bery of a Dahlonega Dollar
General in July 2019.
An armed robbery case
against Stryker is pending in
Lumpkin County.
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