About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (April 26, 2023)
4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com Wednesday, April 26,2023 Bond denied for man accused of dozens of child sex crimes By Julia Hansen jhansen@dawsonnews.com Following a Friday hearing at the Dawson County Courthouse, Judge Clint Bearden ruled on a bond motion for a White County man accused of more than 40 child sexual crimes. Matthew Scott Roberts, 40, of Cleveland, has been denied bond, according to a document fded April 21 in Dawson County Superior Court. An attorney for Roberts filed a motion at the end of March asking for bond. In the April 21 order, the judge indicated he was denying Roberts’ motion because the court could not find that the defendant “poses no significant risk of committing a fel ony pending trial.” Roberts was previously indicted in January on 42 counts of sexual exploitation of children and seven counts of child molestation, or 49 charges total. He has also been accused of family violence-related battery in another 2022 case. The Dawson County Sheriff’s Office arrested Roberts this past fall for allegedly committing vari ous sexual crimes on June 26, July 23 and Oct. 20, according to DCSO warrants. Collectively, the warrants accuse Roberts of film ing and possessing more than a dozen explicit vid eos of a 9-year-old girl with whom he was previous ly acquainted in Dawson County and allegedly hav ing 600-plus explicit photos of the female victim. Seven of the indicted charges against Roberts were dismissed due to being duplicative and having incorrectly listed the victim’s name, according to a document filed Jan. 27. Roberts has remained in custody at the Dawson County Detention Center since his arrest. Previously, Roberts was indicted in a similar 2019 case in White County, according to Superior Court records there. However, that indictment was thrown out in May 2021 because the allegation dates were too broad, court documents stated. DCN will update this story as more information becomes available. Roberts Broadband, E911 center discussed at Board of Commissioners meetings Julia Hansen Dawson County News Director of Economic Development Kevin Herrit speaks to the Board of Commissioners during their voting session on April 20. By Julia Hansen jhansen@dawsonnews.com Residents in southern and western Dawson County will soon have the option of connecting to fiber-optic internet, Director of Economic Development Kevin Herrit told the Board of Commissioners on Thursday. About $400,000 of the over $2 million allotted has been dispersed for the Dawson County project, and eligible customers will be able to connect within the next month, Herrit said. During the board’s April 20 voting session, Herrit provided updates on initiatives in which the Development Authority of Dawson County is involved. Both the development authority and Herrit, in his capacity, are housed under the Dawson County Chamber of Commerce. The DADC partnered with Ellijay Telephone Company (ETC) last year to help use broadband grant money awarded by Gov. Brian Kemp to expand internet access in the county, according to a previous joint press release. Through the initiative, a portion of ETC’s existing fiber network and resources will be used to build approximately 35 miles of high speed fiber optics to serve 563 cus tomers in 14 unserved census block groups. “The partnership with ETC allows the Development Authority of Dawson County access to, and usage of, portions of the 250 miles of mid dle mile fiber that ETC is building in conjunction with their partnership with Amicalola EMC,” the release said. A map at ETC’s “ARPA: Dawson County” webpage shows that Phase 1 is clustered around roads in south ern and western areas of the county. For all phases of the project, you can check your address eligibility at www.ETCARPA.com. The project is expected to be ongoing through at least 2026. DCN will continue following this broadband initiative. E911 center A decision on Dawson County’s forthcoming E911 and emergency operations center has been post poned until the board can gather more input from top public safety officials. Although sheriff’s and emergency services leaders were not at the April 20 work session, development con sultant Jim King still presented pros and cons for two possible locations for the future E911 and EOC build ing. The public safety building could be put on an old county fleet servic es site off of Ga. 53 West in Dawsonville or next to Fire Station 2 at 145 Liberty Drive. King, who spoke for the architec tural and engineering firm Jericho Group, said the same facilities could be built at either site from a civil engineering and site grading stand point. As was also previously stated, he reminded the board that the Fire Station 2 site does already have utili ties and that those lines would have to be extended at the Ga. 53 site. However, those extensions would have to happen at some point regard less if the county’s new future health department is built there, King said. Water, sewer and electricity line extensions could run the county about $500,000-$600,000, King added. As for fiber-optic internet, the development consultant explained that it was his understanding that either site could work, based on his conversations with county IT offi cials. King also added that if the E911 center is built at Fire Station 2 on a lower site pad, then it would be fea sible to place a fueling station the county wants on an upper pad. District 2 Commissioner Chris Gaines said that the county’s elec tions department is interested in potentially having space at Fire Station 2. “Some of their [elections] board members like the idea of potentially being efficient with maybe being able to have a multi-use room over there to be able to facilitate voting when that time comes, instead of doing the voting in the actual bays of the fire station,” Gaines said. New Ga. 400 Exit 18 opens By Daniel Dotson DCN regional staff The newest exit on Ga. 400 is now open for public use. On Wednesday, April 19, Forsyth County announced the official opening of the southbound entrance and exit ramps at the new Exit 18 junction located at Ga. 400 and SR 369. The opening of the southbound ramps came only 14 days after the opening of the northbound ramps on April 5. Construction was completed one day ahead of schedule. The new cloverleaf intersection replaces the four-way traffic signal that once stood at 400 and SR 369 and forced GDOT to request the removal of the traffic signal further north at Martin Road. Due to the removal of the light, there is no longer the option to turn left at the inter section of 400 and Martin Road. All access to and from 400 at that intersection is lim ited to right turns. As GDOT representative Terrance Cooper explained it in a video released by Forsyth County, “Due to the close proxim ity of Exit 18, GDOT wanted to eliminate potentially hazardous conditions with cars having to stop as they’re trying to acceler ate getting into 400.” Before the southbound ramps were opened, traffic was redirected to Exit 17 where drivers could take Keith Bridge Road or Highway 9 to reach SR 369. The new southbound exit ramp takes traffic to a tie-in at a new traffic signal by the Chevron gas station, from which drivers can turn to go either eastbound or westbound on 369. The vision of the final project includes widening of 369 and the overpass bridge to expand the road from two lanes to four lanes. According to Forsyth County Director of Capital Projects John Jefferson, the wid ening project is 12-15 months out. This article was originally published in the Forsyth County News, a sister publica tion of DCN. Get your spring vegetable garden started and support local high school students By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com In just a couple short weeks, students from Dawson County High School will host a spring vegetable plant sale, allowing community members a chance to jump-start their vegetable gardens and support local students at the same time. According to informa tion provided by DCHS Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor Keith Pankey, the sale is scheduled to take place on May 5 and 6 at the Dawson County High School greenhouses. Plants available for pur chase will consist of sever al types of tomatoes, including Rutger, beef steak, German giant, Cherokee purple, Marglobe and delicious. The club will also have several types of peppers for sale, including jalape- nos, Cowhorn, sweet banana and bell. All vege table plants will cost $3. The sale will take place from 3 to 7 p.m. on May 5 and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on May 6. University system extends test requirement waiver By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service The University System of Georgia (USG) will waive SAT and ACT test requirements at most of the system’s 26 institutions for another academic year. The waiver will apply to all of the sys tem’s colleges and universities except the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Georgia College & State University. The university system began waiving the test requirements in March 2020 with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The waiver has been in effect for all but 10 months since then. Most academic researchers have con cluded that high school grade-point aver ages are a better indicator of future success in college than test scores, system Chancellor Sonny Perdue told members of the system’s Board of Regents Wednesday. The regents heard a presentation during Wednesday’s meeting on the campus of the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega showing that freshman enroll ment plummeted last year when the sys tem briefly reimposed the testing require ment. Enrollment rebounded when the sys tem went back to the waiver late last year. Preliminary data for this coming fall - with the testing waiver remaining in effect - shows an increase in both applications and acceptances, Scott Lingrell, vice chan cellor of enrollment and student affairs, told the regents. “We’re cautiously optimistic about the fall,” he said. “We’re looking really good across our institutions.” Dana Nichols, the system’s vice chan cellor of academic affairs, said nearly 79% of accredited colleges and universities across the nation don’t require standard ized tests for admission, including most schools in the states of Alabama, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Many of the schools in Florida and Tennessee also are test-optional, she said. Bowen Center to hold summer art camp for first time in years By Erica Jones ejones@dawsonnews.com This summer, young aspiring artists will have a chance to enjoy hands-on lessons in several different types of art, thanks to the Bowen Center for the Arts’ upcoming summer art camp. According to the Bowen’s executive director Ginny Greenwood, this is the first time in several years that the art center has been able to host a summer camp so she and other Bowen leader ship are very excited for the opportuni ty. This year’s camp is scheduled for June 12 through 15, June 19 through 22, July 10 through 13 and July 17 through 20 and is open to children ages six through nine years old. During the camp, teacher Kelly Shippey will teach hands-on lessons in plaster casting, leather working, oil pastels, paper mache, acrylics and batik t-shirts for weekly sign-ups. Parents can sign their child up for a day of camp for $50 per child, or for four days at a rate of $180 per child. The program will include free lunch compliments of the Dawson County summer lunch program, and aftercare until 5 p.m. will be available for a fee. Parents can sign their children up for camp online at bowenarts.org or in per son at the Bowen. Photo courtesy of Unsplash The Bowen is located at 334 Highway 9 North and is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. For more information, call 706-216-2787 or email director@bowenarts.org. THANK YOU from the Dawson County Retired Educators Each year a $500 scholarship is awarded to a graduating senior from DCHS, who is planning on pursuing a career in education. We also award a $500 scholarship to a graduating senior from Dawson County Mountain Educational Charter School, who is continuing their educational career. Nature’s Color has donated another $500 for an additional scholarship this year. This could not be possible without the help from our community and their support. A Special THANK YOU to the 2022-23 SPONSORS • Fancy Flea • C&WTrue Value • State Farm - • Purple Corn Hardware Carla Boutin • Homestar Financial - • Fajita Grill • Nature’s Color Jonah Abraham • Senior Fiesta • Longhorns Steakhouse • MB Resource • Amicalola • TP Nails • Olive Garden Propane • Chicken Salad Chick • Bearden’s Funeral Home • Davis Engineering • Crumble Cookie
