Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, May 25,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Ga. primary election results will be posted online
Staff reports
Election Day for Georgia’s
general primary is Tuesday,
May 24. DCN staff will cover
county, state and federal prima
ry races specific to Dawson
County voters.
Live results will be posted
and shared on the newspaper’s
website, dawsonnews.com, as
well as the “Dawson County
News” Facebook page and its
Twitter account, @dawsonnews.
Since the paper goes to press
on Mondays and the election
falls on a Tuesday, results will
not be printed in the May 25
edition. Please see the above
online platforms for primary
election 2022 results.
Of the races, there is expected
to be a runoff for the top two
Republican candidates running
for U.S. House District 6. A
runoff election will be held on
Tuesday, June 21.
Boundaries for District 6
were changed following the
2020 U.S. Census. Now, this
congressional district includes
all of Forsyth and Dawson
counties, as well as parts of
Cherokee, Cobb, Gwinnett and
Fulton counties.
Chamber holds ceremony for new State Farm office
Erica Jones Dawson County News
On May 17, the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce held
an official ribbon cutting for State Farm Insurance Agent
Jonathon McKibben.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
On Tuesday May 17, the
Dawson County Chamber of
Commerce held an official rib
bon cutting for State Farm
Insurance Agent Jonathon
McKibben.
McKibben’s office opened ear
lier this year, and as a State Farm
insurance agent he offers auto
insurance, home insurance, prop
erty insurance, business insur
ance, life insurance, health insur
ance and banking.
During the ribbon cutting cere
mony, McKibben explained that
while he is not new to the insur
ance field, he is newer to the
Dawsonville area, so he’s excited
to start learning the community
and getting plugged in.
“I’ve been an agency manager
for the last six years for another
agent down in Kennesaw; so I’m
not new to State Farm, just new
to Dawsonville,” McKibben said.
“So I’m looking to get plugged
in and lean on the people that
know the community well and
lean on that. We definitely love
being here.”
McKibben runs the office with
his wife Ariel, and the two have
several employees that will be
working at the office, including
two college students who are a
part of their internship program.
“I’ve got two guys here that
are interns, Max and Daniel who
are both students — Max at
UNG and Daniel at KSU — and
they’re in my internship pro
gram; I’ll have a rolling intern
ship program every semester so
partnering with UNG, KSU,
Georgia State, and so on,”
McKibben said. “And then I have
three other employees that are in
licensing right now, so by the
time we turn around to June 1
we’ll have a full house in here.”
Before cutting the ribbon,
Dawson County Chamber of
Commerce President and CEO
Mandy Power welcomed
McKibben and his staff to the
community and to the chamber.
“This is truly one of our favor
ite things to do is cut ribbons of
new businesses coming in to
Dawsonville,” Power said. “If
you want to get plugged in, this
is exactly where you need to be
so we are very excited about that.
You have a lot of great assets
here in this room that have been
here for a very long time so they
can help you as well.”
Board Chair Shannon Voss
added to Power’s comments,
welcoming McKibben to the net
work and family that the cham
ber provides.
“We are so happy to have you
as part of the chamber; I know
you’re really just going to enjoy
all the relationships that you’re
going to build,” Voss said.
McKibben said that he looks
forward to becoming more
ingrained in the community, to
forming those relationships and
to bringing quality insurance ser
vices to Dawson County.
“Really the biggest key with
small business is the network
around you and the people
around you supporting you as
you go,” McKibben said. “Stop
by and see everybody; we’re here
to help.”
McKibben’s office is located at
5959 Highway 53 East Suite
300, and the office hours are
Monday through Friday from 9
a.m. to 5 p.m. For more informa
tion, go to https ://www.dawson-
villemckibben.com/ or call 706-
525-7635.
DPH: Consult pediatrician during formula shortage
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
The Georgia Department of Public
Health (DPH) is urging parents who are
unable to find baby formula to turn to
their pediatrician for guidance on nutri
tional and safe feeding alternatives.
According to a release by the DPH,
Georgia WIC is currently working with
WIC agencies across the state, as well as
local grocers, retailers and formula man
ufacturers, to help locate formula for cli
ents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics
(AAP) is offering guidance for parents
that are having trouble finding the for
mula they need. According to the
release, the AAP is advising parents to
never water down baby formula, but to
always mix it as directed by the manu
facturer.
The AAP advises against homemade
baby formulas, which can seem healthy
but do not meet the baby’s nutritional
needs. Baby formula bought online
should only be bought from well-recog
nized distributors and pharmacies, and
social media ads should not automatical
ly be trusted. Parents can check a com
pany’s reputation at www.bbb.org.
Parents are advised against using
imported formulas from other countries
that have not been reviewed by the FDA.
The AAP is also recommending that par
ents only prepare the amount of formula
they need for each feeding and to buy no
more than a 10-day to two-week supply
of formula at a time.
For a complete list of the AAP guid
ance and tips for finding formula during
the shortage, go to healthychildren.org.
WIC clients who need help finding for
mula should contact their local WIC
FROM 1A
Council
plus open some city roads
up and hopefully some
businesses come.”
Mayor Mike Eason said
that purchasing the land
would allow the city to add
more walkable areas to
allow citizens and visitors
to travel more easily to and
from downtown businesses,
and would also allow for
more potential businesses to
come into the area.
“We own some streets to
the west that we would
probably wanna open up
for driving and walking
access to give the opportu
nity to walk behind some
of our current businesses
all the way over here as
well as to walk from the
park and the farmers mar
ket over to this area,”
Eason said.
He explained that the
city has been working with
different entities to come
up with possible concepts
of what to use the land for,
to bring more businesses
and foot traffic into the
downtown area.
“We’ve got ideas of what
might be put in there, but
we’re gonna work with the
Appalachian Regional
Commission... we’ve been
working with some local
engineers to come up with
some concepts and what
we gotta do is work with
some developers to make
this work and come up
with a plan that’s accept
able to us,” Eason said.
“Maybe some businesses
with some apartments
above them, something
like that, a live work kind
of community, some other
restaurants, things like that
in this area.”
All of the council mem
bers agreed that adding on
land to potentially bring
new businesses into the
community would go a
long way towards revitaliz
ing the downtown area.
“It definitely opens up
some available land for us
to get businesses in here,
and the state highway
won’t go through the mid
dle of it,” Council Member
Caleb Phillips said.
“I think this is a good
thing for the city, and I’d
like to thank John and the
property owners for their
work on this and making it
come to fruition,” Council
Member Mark French
added.
According to Eason, the
council’s vote on Monday
was to approve a $1 mil
lion purchase, with
$100,000 to be put down
up front to be held until the
city’s environmental stud
ies are finished. The proj
ect would be funded out of
SPLOST 7 and the city’s
general fond reserves.
“We’ll have to do some
environmental and other
studies on the property to
make sure; we’ll be sign
ing it tonight if y’all
approve it,” Eason said to
the council members. “We
just want it to be so the
City of Dawsonville will
have a place that people
can come to and do some
thing besides go to the
park and the farmer’s mar
ket because downtown,
while we’ve got some busi
nesses down there, they’re
very hard to access
because of the traffic. So
we want to try to bring
something that’ll bring
people into our communi
ty.”
Council members voted
unanimously to approve
the land purchase.
“We’re growing and
we’re open for business, so
I’m really excited about
this, I really am, to see
downtown Dawsonville
grow,” Walden said. “Plus
for the citizens — to give
them a chance to walk
around and enjoy down
town because we’ve got a
beautiful town, we’ve got a
beautiful community, and
there’s a lot of great people
who live here, so I think
this is a win-win for every
body.”
EARLY DEADLINES FOR
MEMORIAL DAY
Because of the upcoming holidays Dawson County News
will alter its advertising and legals deadline as follows:
Retail Display Ads
Publication Date Deadline
Dawson County News
Midweek Edition 6/1 -2 Thursday, 5/26 3:00pm
Classifieds / Legal Ads / Obituaries
Publication Date Deadline
Dawson County News
Classifieds 6/1-2 Thursday, 5/26 3:00pm
DawsonCountyNews
will be CLOSED
Monday, May 30,2022
in observance of Memorial Day
office or call 1-800-228-9173.
The release added that consumers
should beware of price gouging and
other scams during the baby formula
shortage and report scams or suspected
price gouging to the Consumer
Protection Division (CPD) by calling
404-651-8600 or 1-800-869-1123.
“DPH will continue to monitor all
information coming from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) and
formula manufacturers regarding the
shortage and work to ensure Georgia
babies have access to food and nutrition
they need to grow healthy and strong,”
the release said.
Photo courtesy Unsplash
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