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The Commerce News
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Elections
Election
Day is
Tuesday,
Nov. 7
Election Day is coming
up Tuesday, Nov. 7. Polls
will be open for the Gen
eral Municipal Election
on Nov. 7 from 7 a.m. to
7 p.m. Polling locations
include:
•Braselton: Braselton
Police and Municipal
Court Building, 5040
Hwy. 53, Braselton.
• Commerce: First Bap
tist Church of Commerce,
1345 South Elm St.,
Commerce
• Hoschton: Hoschton
City Hall, 65 City Sq„
Hoschton
• Jefferson: Jefferson
Civic Center, 65 Kissam
St., Jefferson
• Maysville: StonePath
Church, 8430 Maysville
Rd., Maysville
• Nicholson: Benton
Hall/Nicholson City Hall,
5488 Hwy. 441, Nichol
son
• Pendergrass: Pender
grass City Hall, 65 Smith
Bridges St., Pendergrass.
EARLY VOTING
CONTINUES
Early voting contin
ues throughout this week
from Oct. 30-Nov. 3 from
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
All early voting will be
held at the Jackson Coun
ty Elections Office, 441
Gordon St., Jefferson.
ON THE BALLOT
Candidates and other
items on the Nov. 7 bal
lots include:
BRASELTON
• District 1: Becky
Richardson, incumbent,
and Joshua Spearman
• District 3: Jim Joe-
decke Jr., incumbent, and
Tom Logan
COMMERCE
• City Council Ward 3:
Mark Fitzpatrick (incum
bent) and Alicia Vargas
• City Council Ward
5: Roshuanda Merritt,
Marty Vitug and Ronald
Silver
• A bond referendum to
allow the city to issue up
to $13 million in bonds to
fund a double-gym recre
ation facility.
HOSCHTON
• Mayor (filling the un
expired term of Lauren
O’Leary): Michael Beck,
Debbie Martin and Nick
Sutton
• 2-year term (filling
the unexpired term of
See Election, page 2A
MAILING LABEL
Public safety
Candidate for Sheriff terminated from JCSO
Dale Dillow, a candidate
running for Jackson Coun
ty Sheriff, has been termi
nated from his job at the
Jackson County Sheriff’s
Office.
Dillow was fired after
entering the locked office
of JCSO deputy Kevin Mc
Cook, another candidate
for Sheriff, without Mc
Cook’s permission.
In a news release, the
JCSO announced that Dil
low, the former command
er of the JCSO Criminal In
vestigations Division, was
dismissed Oct. 24 for oath
of office violations, includ
ing unbecoming conduct
and immoral conduct.
He was not charged with
a criminal violation.
Sheriff Janis Mangum
learned on Oct. 16 that Dil
low had entered McCook’s
locked office without per
mission. Dillow was seen
on video inside McCook’s
office on Oct. 10 around
9:30 p.m. McCook is the
JCSO training director.
Dillow had a master key
and unlocked McCook’s
door to gain entry.
Sheriff Mangum request
ed a third party outside
law enforcement agency
to conduct an investigation
of the incident. The Hall
County Sheriff’s Office
ultimately handled the in
cident.
According to the HCSO
investigation, Dillow en
tered McCook’s locked
office while McCook was
attending a JCSO event on
Oct. 10.
McCook had previous
ly noticed that it appeared
someone had moved items
around on his desk.
“Deputy McCook then
began to arrange things on
his desk in specific ways
when he would leave so
he could confirm they had
been moved when he re
turned. This progressed to
him taking a photo of his
desk before leaving the
office and then taking one
upon his return to docu
ment that things were out
of place,” the investigation
report revealed.
McCook reached out to
Sheriff Mangum, who ad
vised him to hide a camera
in his office. McCook did
so and video recordings
show Dillow entering his
office, looking around and
then looking through items
on McCook’s desk, photo
graphing his calendar and
opening desk drawers.
Dillow denied his ac
tions were politically mo
tivated. He reportedly said
he was looking through the
calendar because he be
lieved McCook was away
from the office for private
reasons while on duty.
Dillow, who had no super
visory authority over Mc
Cook, never reported his
suspicions to anyone. The
investigation found that
McCook had been present
at work performing his as
signed duties.
DILLOW
APOLOGIZES
Following discovery of
the incident, Dillow sent
See Dillow, page 2A
Dale Dillow is seen in the hallways of the Jackson
County Sheriff’s Office.
ALL TREATS, NO TRICKS
“Three Little Pigs” were among the attendees at the Commerce library’s Boo
Fest. See more on page 3A.
Photo by Cheyenne Tolleson
Swirlee’s Sweet Shop and Gifts participated in Halloween in Jefferson on
Oct. 26. Their shop offered candy to trick-or-treaters and a fun, interactive
environment with their mascot and employees.
Public safety
Wrong-way driver
killed, other driver
injured in
Hwy. 441 wreck
A Commerce woman was killed and a man was
injured in a wrong-way vehicle wreck on Oct. 20
on Hwy. 441.
According to the Georgia State Patrol report,
Brenda Bagwell, 64, of Commerce, was driving
north in the southbound lanes of Hwy. 441 near
Hoods Mill Rd. Bagwell’s Chevrolet Malibu col
lided with a Chevrolet Silverado driven by Brod
erick Holbert, of Conyers.
Bagwell was pronounced dead at the scene.
Holbert was taken to Northeast Georgia Medical
Center Gainesville with suspected serious injuries.
Public safety
Man found not guilty
in 2019 Braselton
fatal wreck
A Winder man has been found not guilty on
several charges connected to a fatal traffic acci
dent in October 2019, on New Cut Road in Bra
selton.
Jorge Anthony Medina, who was 34 at the time
of the wreck, was found not guilty by a Jackson
County jury on charges of homicide by vehicle
in the first degree, driving under the influence
(DUI), failure to maintain lane and reckless driv
ing. He was found guilty on a charge of not wear
ing a seatbelt and charged a $15 fine.
It was reported at the time of the accident that
Medina was the driver of a Nissan Titan truck that
ran off the road and struck a number of trees.
Medina was seriously injured in the wreck
and a passenger, Stephanie M. Wheeler, 27, was
ejected from the truck and died.
415 Lee Street • Jefferson, GA
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