The Sports Pig

A former Doraville police officer who had previously been accused of concealing the death of 16-year-old Norcross resident Susana Morales has now been formally accused of kidnapping and murdering her, Gwinnett County Police Chief J.D. McClure announced on Wednesday.

McClure said the charges against Miles Bryant, 22, have been upgraded to include felony murder and kidnapping in connection with Morales' death last July. Bryant was previously charged with concealing the death of another person and false report of a crime. He will continue to face those charges in addition to the new ones.

Bryant's employment with Doraville police was terminated when he was arrested earlier this month.

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A survivor of a bombing that killed four children at the 16th Street Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala., nearly 60 years ago spoke at Poplar Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Buford this weekend.

Sarah J. Collins-Rudolph was a young girl who was at 16th Street Baptist with her sister, Addie Mae Collins, on September15, 1963 when a bomb placed at the African-American church by the Ku Klux Klan exploded.

Collins-Rudolph shared her story on Sunday as part of Black History Month observations at the church. The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing is one of the most notorious incidents in the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s. Collins-Rudolph survived the blast although she lost her right eye as a result of her injuries. Her sister, however, was one of four girls who were killed by the explosion.

The FBI considered the bombing to be “a most heinous offense” and gathered evidence with as many as 36 agents working on the case at one point.

The first 100 customers at Japanese cream puff restaurant chain Beard Papa’s newest location in Duluth will receive a free gift when the pastry shop opens later this week.

Beard Papa’s is set to open its new location at 3350 Steve Reynolds Blvd, Suite 103 in unincorporated Duluth at 10 a.m. on February 25

It will be the pastry chain’s third location in Georgia, and its second in Gwinnett County. Its first location in the state opened in Peachtree Corners’ Town Center district a few years ago. There is an additional location in Sandy Springs. The first 100 people who show up at Beards Papa’s Duluth on the 25th will receive a special gift. Popular local foodie influencers and neighboring business owners are scheduled to make appearances on the opening day. There will also be grand opening day offers.

Beard Papa’s lets customers choose from one of eight different types of puff shells, and then chose a cream filling that is inserted in the shell in front of them. The chain also has cheesecake, chocolate fondant, other types of pastries, and exclusive blended drinks on its menu.

This year’s Georgia baseball team has a chance to be special, and you can sense that from each player who speaks confidently about the upcoming 2023 season. 

North Gwinnett grad Corey Collins, a 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior catcher for the Bulldogs this season, knows it too. 

Stricklin, who had eight players sign professional contracts last year, is excited to see Collins and others possibly get that chance as well. Collins said he already gets the opportunity to live out a dream playing for the Bulldogs, who he grew up watching and loving.

The life-affirming song “I Hope You Dance” accompanied the traditional academic procession and recession of the Class of 2024 during their White Coat Ceremony, dubbed “the most unique White Coat Ceremony in the history of PCOM” by class chair Andrew Wilson.

Having started pharmacy school at the beginning of the pandemic when most of the world was shutting down, the 79 class members decided to delay a virtual ceremony in 2020 to an in-person ceremony two and a half years later on Feb. 10.

This decision mirrors the decisions class members will make as pharmacists. Shawn Spencer, PhD, RPh, dean and chief academic officer of the PCOM School of Pharmacy, extolled the students. He said, “You are not only becoming a pharmacist, but also a leader, mentor and a role model.”

He added, “As healthcare professionals, you will be called upon to make difficult and complex decisions, and you will be relied upon to act with compassion, integrity and dedication to your patients who need you.”

He called the ceremony “a rite of passage that symbolizes our commitment to the advancement of human health and the betterment of our most vulnerable communities.” The students were called to the stage where they were coated by faculty members five at a time. Wearing their white coats and a new PCOM School of Pharmacy pin, the Class of 2024 recited their class 

mission statement led by Dr. Spencer. The class concluded the ceremony, attended by a multitude of family and friends, by reciting a Pledge of Professionalism led by John Tovar, PharmD, associate professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy Practice. 

Georgia disability advocates are calling for the creation of a special commission devoted to the problems Georgians with intellectual and developmental disabilities face.

State Senator Sally Harrell, a Democrat from Atlanta, introduced legislation this week that would create an “Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Innovation Commission” akin to the highly successful behavioral health commission formed in 2019.

Harrell’s proposal has drawn bipartisan support, including from Republican Senate co-sponsors John Albers of Roswell, Mike Dugan of Carrollton, Chuck Hufstetler of Rome, and Ben Watson of Savannah. The 22-member commission would include members appointed by the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the speaker of the House of Representatives. Appointees would include, among others, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and their family members and caregivers.

The commission would be required to focus on proposed changes to state laws and regulations around providing services to people with disabilities.

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee will need to approve Harrell’s bill before it can move to the Senate floor for a vote.

Providence Christian’s boys were represented well on the All-Region 8-AA Basketball Team, including Region Player of the Year honors to Samuel Thacker.

Thacker and the Storm won the Region 8-AA Tournament over the weekend, earning a Number 1 seed for the state playoffs. Providence head coach Joey Thacker was the 8-AA Coach of the Year, while the all-region team featured four other Storm players — Thomas Malcolm, Devin Long, Kamron Carryl, Chandler Dunn. Providence will start off the playoffs tonight hosting Rockmart High School at the Storm Center.

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Gwinnett County residents can now get an overdose-reversing kit for free from local health officials in case they are worried that they, or someone they care about, might be in danger from opioid use.

GNR Public Health announced on Friday that it is making the Narcan kits available to anyone over 18 in its three-county footprint. Narcan is a substance that can be used on someone, who is suffering from an overdose, to save their life.

Narcan has been available for a few years to law enforcement officers to carry with them in case they encounter someone who is experiencing an overdose, but there has been a push in recent years to get it into the hands of community members as well in an effort to reduce opioid use related deaths.

Each kit that GNR Public Health is providing to community members includes two naloxone doses as well as a pouch to carry them in, a CPR face shield and information about how to administer the doses as well as the medical amnesty law, recovery and treatment options. The kits are available at the Lawrenceville Health Center, located at 455 Grayson Highway Suite 300, and the Norcross Health Center, which is located at 5030 Georgia Belle Court. Health officials said their staff is trained to teach people how to properly administer Narcan, and they will review the instructions with each person who picks up a kit.

A federal judge sentenced a Buford man to six years in prison on Friday for his role in a Ponzi scheme involving cattle trading.

Buford resident Ron Throgmartin , and Galesburg, Illinois resident Reva Joyce Stachniw were convicted last August on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Stachniw was sentenced to six years in prison as well on Friday.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Throgmartin and Stachniw, as well as another co-conspirator, were accused in court documents of “fraudulently representing to victims that their investments were backed by short-term investments in Stachniw and Throgmartin’s cattle and marijuana businesses.” Victims gave them money under the assumption that it would go where they had been told it would go, but the dollars instead went to paying back earlier investors, according to prosecutors.

The Department of Justice said victims lost millions of dollars as a result.

In addition to their jail time, Throgmartin and Stachniw were also ordered by a federal judge to each pay nearly $14.6 million in restitution. Throgmartin must forfeit just over $1 million, while Stachniw must forfeit just over $6 million, as well.

As visitors walk to county offices at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center his month, they are greeted with images of Black people engaging in every day life.

There is a group of Black women enjoying a Sunday tea together in one painting by Gwinnett-based artist Shoghi Lombard. Another painting by Lombard shows three black women in white dresses lifting their arms to the heavens as they offer praise to God.

Sitting next to image of the praying women is another Lombard painting of three different Black women who are also wearing in white dresses, but this group is in a field together. Across the aisle, there is a painting by a Gwinnett County Public Schools student of a Black couple relaxing as they lay next to each other in a field of grass together. A young Black man is shown in profile in a portrait, by another GCPS student, that is nestled among paintings by other students.

The paintings are part of Gwinnett County government’s annual Black History Month display, which is devoted this year to highlighting locally produced Black art.

Gwinnettians who cannot make it during the day to see the display will have a chance to see it at night this week.

County officials will commemorate Black History Month with a Heritage Night Celebration on tonight night at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center, which is located at 75 Langley Drive in Lawrenceville.

The event will begin with food and socializing at 6:30 p.m., with the celebration itself beginning at 7 p.m.

The Berean Christian Church Choir and representatives from GCPS will perform and poet laureate Hank Stewart will speak as well. The Black History Month display is part of the build up to the event, and it gives people who cannot attend the celebration a way to reflect on Gwinnett’s Black community, and its history, at any time during February. The display will remain up at GJAC until March 1.

In most of the Georgia High School Association’s classifications, the team point total put forth by Buford and Mill Creek would’ve been good enough to win the state title at the 2023 traditional wrestling tournament. 

Unfortunately for the Wolves and Hawks, they happen to reside in Class AAAAAAA, domain to Camden County, which claimed its seventh straight team title in the state’s largest classification and ninth straight overall Saturday at the Macon Centreplex. 

The Wildcats piled up 233 team points with state placers in all 14 weight classes, including three state champions, to edge the Wolves, which finished as runner up with 219 points behind 11 state placers and two state champions — Drew Gorman, who pinned Parkview’s to win the individual title at 136 pounds, and Gavin Pope, who outpointed North Paulding’s Josh Denson for a 5-4 decision to win the title at 144. Meanwhile, Mill Creek’s total of 158.5 – paced by state champions Antonio Mills (46-1) at 113, Blue Stiffler at 126, Amantee Mills  at 132 and Dominic Bambinelli at 165 and three other state placers – was good enough for third place, the highest placing for the Hawks. Despite coming up just short of the team title with such a strong showing, Buford coach Tom Beuglas has no complaints about the result, or with the way his Wolves wrestled this weekend. Mill Creek coach Nathan White expressed similar sentiments about his team’s historic finish, which continues a strong set of showings on the state level that started last season.

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Two Tuesday Morning stores in Gwinnett County, located in Buford and Snellville, are among the 12 Georgia stores that the home decor retailer plans to close soon as it goes through bankruptcy proceedings.

The news of the stores slated for closure comes on the heels of Tuesday Morning’s bankruptcy filing on Tuesday. The chain plans to close about 264 of its 464 stores as part of a restructuring, claiming the stores slated to be shut down are in “unprofitable locations,” according to bankruptcy documents.

The Mall of Georgia store Boulevard in Buford and the Presidential Commons store in Snellville are among the stores slated to close. Tuesday Morning officials have not announced specific closing dates for either location, but going out of business sales have already begun, according to the chain’s website. 

It’s no secret that with the many diversions — both worth and unworthy — available to young people, reading for pleasure is often not a priority. But if an appreciation for the printed word starts early, there’s a greater chance that children will embrace reading as they grow.

To that end, Disney On Ice and Monster Jam have collaborated with public libraries in the Atlanta area to encourage young readers to take part in an initiative that will entitle them to free tickets (with the purchase of an adult ticket) to either “Disney On Ice presents Find Your Hero” or Monster Jam, both of which will make Atlanta-area appearances in April.

Children — ages 2 to 12 — are urged to visit their local public libraries in Gwinnett, Henry and Barrow counties to collect a reward club card, which will detail the steps to earn a free ticket. Once five or more books have been read, the child and their parent or guardian can redeem the reward club card for a free ticket. Libraries participating in the “Disney On Ice presents Find Your Hero” offer include the 16 branches of the Gwinnett Public Library, the five branches of the Henry County Library System, the Auburn Pubic Library and the Winder Public Library, among others. Libraries participating in the Monster Jam offer include the Auburn Public Library, the Henry County Library System and the Winder Public Library.

“Disney On Ice presents Find Your Hero” is scheduled to visit the Gas South Arena in Dultuh from April 20-23. Free tickets can be redeemed for performances at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, at 11 a.m. or 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 21, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 and at 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 23.

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A federal judge sentenced a Buford man to six years in prison on Friday for his role in a Ponzi scheme involving cattle trading.

Buford resident Ron Throgmartin, 59, and Galesburg, Ill. resident Reva Joyce Stachniw, 71, were convicted last August on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Stachniw was sentenced to six years in prison as well on Friday.

The U.S. Department of Justice said Throgmartin and Stachniw, as well as another co-conspirator, were accused in court documents of “fraudulently representing to victims that their investments were backed by short-term investments in Stachniw and Throgmartin’s cattle and marijuana businesses.”

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A former NFL player who spent time with the Falcons is one of 8 who faces charges for human trafficking and gang activity; Former Norcross star Alvin Kamara was indicted in a beating of a man in a Las Vegas night club; And Lawrenceville’s own Offset and his wife Cardi B have their own McDonald’s menu. 

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A Doraville officer was arrested for his role in concealing the death of Susana Morales, a Meadowcreek student who's body was found this month; Police identified the 13-year-old boy that was shot in unincorporated Norcross; And Lawrenceville native Offset and his wife Cardi B have their own McDonald's meal now available. 

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A 13-year-old boy has been identified by Gwinnett County police as the teen who died after he was shot in the middle of a Norcross area street Tuesday night.

Jaeden Travis was shot on Windward Lane in unincorporated Norcross, near his home. Police were called to the scene at about 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday, and found Travis laying in the street. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died from his injuries.

Police are continuing to investigate who shot Travis and why they shot him, according to Cpl. William Wolfe. The Gwinnett County Police Department Homicide and Crime Scene Investigations Units spent the evening combing the area and interviewing neighbors. Anyone who has information about who shot Travis, or why they shot him, is asked to call detectives or Crime Stoppers, which lets tipsters remain anonymous.

Drivers in the Lilburn area have a new place to go when they need to renew the tag on their vehicles.

The Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner’s Office announced a new tag renewal kiosk has been installed at the Kroger located at 300 Five Forks Trickum Road in Lilburn. It is the ninth tag renewal kiosk in Gwinnett County.

Vehicle owners can use the kiosk to renew their license plate without having to wait in a line at a tag office. It will be available during the store’s operating hours, which are 6 a.m. until 11 p.m. The kiosks accept debit and credit cards, and users will have to pay a small convenience fee to use them. The Tax Commissioner’s Office does have 24hour kiosks at its Lawrenceville and North Gwinnett offices, in addition to the seven kiosks that are located at retail businesses. 

In many ways, the city of Lawrenceville and Lawrenceville First United Methodist Church have grown and developed together, as the city was incorporated in 1821 (making it the second-oldest municipality in metro Atlanta) and the church was established just two years later.

As the church celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, Senior Pastor Adam Hilderbrandt is adamant that the city and the church continue their centuries-long connection through an initiative known as “Lawrenceville First.” Lawrenceville First UMC has offered a helping hand to a number of entities in the community, including homeless shelters, food cooperatives and the schools in the Central Gwinnett Cluster. The church, which was founded in February 1823 by the Rev. William Justice Parks, is focusing on its anniversary this month, with special services each week. On the first Sunday of February, a confirmation celebration was held, and on the second Sunday of the month, Lawrenceville FUMC’s community partners were invited to speak to the congregation. This Sunday , former pastor Davis Chappell — now senior pastor at Brentwood United Methodist Church in Brentwood, Tennessee — will return to preach, and a very special dedication is also planned. Hilderbrandt noted that from 1904 until 1972, the church met in the building which now houses the Aurora Theatre, which plays a role in the special ceremony.

 Six Berkmar High School students were chosen to display their ceramic artwork at this year’s 2023 Georgia High School Ceramic Arts Awards and Symposium.

The Georgia High School Ceramic Arts Awards and Symposium is an annual gathering of ceramic artists from around the state of Georgia. The symposium consists of a Juried Student Exhibition and several hands-on workshops. The exhibition showcases ceramic art made by high school students from both public and private high schools throughout the state.

The exhibition took place on January 21 at LaGrange College’s Lamar Dodd Art Center and showcased art from students from 26 different schools.

The GCPS students selected for this year’s symposium include the following Berkmar students:

♦ Evelyn Garcia, junior

♦ Joselyn Pineda Tejada, senior

♦ Joselin Reyes, junior

♦ Kristine Vuu, junior

♦ Nayeishka Morales Collado, junior

♦ and Yolibeth Contreras, senior

The GFWC Lilburn Women’s Club is looking for local restaurants who want to come together and offer the community a sampling of their dishes.

The club is set to host its first Taste of Lilburn event from 4 until 7 p.m. on April 29 at Salem Missionary Baptist Church’s Heritage Hall. In anticipation of that event, the group is now taking applications from restaurants, bakeries and chefs to have a booth at it. Anyone who would like to apply to have a booth at the event can find the application at Taste of Lilburn dot org.

Applications are now being accepted for the award-winning Suwanee Youth Leaders, a nine-month leadership program led by the city of Suwanee.

The program is a community-based leadership experience that focuses on developing young leaders through structured educational programs and team-building activities.

With a mission to “empower young leaders to connect inside the community and make an impact outside the classroom,” the program centers on civic involvement, leadership skills, and volunteer opportunities.

Students will have the opportunity to participate in monthly learning sessions, including a two-day retreat, listen to guest speakers, attend field trips, and participate in several hands-on projects including event planning and a community service initiative. The Class of 2023-24 will begin meeting in August of 2023 with new sophomores and juniors, and will meet throughout the school year until April 2024. The city will accept applications between Feb. 15 and March 31. Eligible students will be current high school freshmen and sophomores who live in the North Gwinnett, Peachtree Ridge, and Collins Hill clusters, as well as home school and private school students who reside within those clusters.

For more information or to apply, go to Suwanee dot com.  

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A 13-year-old boy has been identified by Gwinnett County police as the teen who died after he was shot in the middle of a Norcross area street Tuesday night.

Jaeden Travis was shot on Windward Lane in unincorporated Norcross, near his home. Police were called to the scene at about 5:40 p.m. on Tuesday, and found Travis laying in the street. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died from his injuries.

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A Doraville police officer has been arrested in connection with the death of a 16-year-old Norcross teen whose body was found off State Route 316 last week.

Gwinnett County police are still investigating how Susana Morales died. She went missing last July while walking home and her body was found near the Gwinnett-Barrow county line on February 6.

Gwinnett law enforcement officials have not released details of how Doraville Police Officer Miles Bryant was involved in the Morales case. He has not been charged with killing Morales, but he has been charged with false report of a crime and concealing the death of another. Bryant is a Norcross resident, according to Gwinnett County police.

Doraville police said they were notified on Monday afternoon that arrest warrants would be served against Bryant.

Doraville officials said Bryant is no longer employed by the city's police department.

A new bill would prohibit transgender Georgians under 18 from receiving gender-affirming hormone therapy or surgery. The Bill’s main sponsor is Senator Clint Dixon, a Republican from Gwinnett County. The eight-page bill includes a long list of procedures that would be barred, including gender-affirming hormone therapy and surgical procedures. The legislation includes some exceptions, including for people who are “born with a medically verifiable disorder of sex development” and for the treatment of “a physical disorder … injury … or illness that is certified by a physician.”

A physician who provides any of the services to a person under 18 would be considered to have committed “unprofessional conduct” and would be subject to discipline by their licensing board. The bill would also require school employees to inform parents if their child is transgender. Medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, support gender-affirming care for transgender children when the physician and family deem it appropriate. One unintended consequence of the bill could be the prohibition of circumcision, said state Senator Kim Jackson, a Democrat from Stone Mountain. That’s because the bill includes a provision that would prohibit the removal of “any healthy or nondiseased body part or tissue.”

Circumcision is a common practice and is a required or strongly encouraged in some religions, including Judaism and Islam.

A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. that will be featured at the Rodney Cook Sr. Peace Park will reside in Atlanta, but it has major Gwinnett County connections.

Local philanthropists Clyde and Sandra Strickland are helping fund the statue — which will depict Dr. King in a pastor's robe and holding an open Bible — and longtime Gwinnett artist Kathy Fincher is one of the sculptors.

Fincher and the Stricklands are lifetime friends, and their collaboration on the MLK statue was born out of a mutual desire to depict the civil rights leader in a way he had not been previously shown. Kathy Fincher wanted to emphasize the role faith played in Dr. King’s life. That's why she wanted to show him in a pastor's robe, looking upward while delivering his famous "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech, which was also the wish of the National Monument Foundation. The sculpture, which she is working on with Athens artist Stan Mullin, also shows a Bible open to scripture about Moses. The statue will be unveiled on April 1 followed by a World Peace Revival "Peace Walk." Clyde Strickland said the sculpture will not only make its mark on that day, but for decades to come.

 Legislation introduced into the Georgia House of Representatives Monday marks the latest effort to legalize sports betting in Georgia.

House Bill 380, sponsored by state Representative Marcus Wiedower, a Republican from Watkinsville, is being supported by the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Like sports betting legislation floated in past years in the General Assembly, Wiedower’s bill calls for sports betting to be overseen by the Georgia Lottery Corp.

Unlike previous sports betting bills, the new measure would allow for two types of sports betting licenses. It calls for awarding up to 16 Type 1 licenses to companies that would provide online sports betting services.

A second variety of licenses – known as Type 2 – would go to brick-and-mortar businesses in Georgia that would offer in-person sports betting. Sports betting legislation in past years has been limited strictly to online betting.

Licensees would pay 15% of their adjusted gross incomes to the state in the form of a “privilege tax” that would be set aside to help fund education in Georgia.

The bill sets out penalties for violators and includes provisions requiring companies involved in sports betting to offer programs to help problem gamblers.

North Gwinnett Middle School orchestra teacher Sarah Ball has been honored with the 2023 Elizabeth A. H. Green School Educator Award.

According to Gwinnett County Public Schools officials, Ball earned the recognition "for her profound impact on string education in her community, state, and beyond." The honor is a national award presented annually by the American String Teachers Association to one school string teacher with a current and distinguished career in a school orchestral setting. From her award nomination letter, her co-teacher Amy Clement stated, “… she is a passionate music educator who enjoys sharing her love of teaching with others. She has recruited countless numbers of students, mentored many student teachers, inspired hundreds of music educators, and of the highest compliment, she has even had several former students become orchestra teachers to follow in her footsteps.”

As a creative mind and innovative advocate for string education, Ball has connected, inspired, taught, coached, and developed current and future generations of string students and teachers. According to GCPS officials, Ball has not only been a leader in Gwinnett County schools "but also shared her light beyond her school district with incomparable engagement and motivational strategies in state, local, regional, and national presentations, and guest clinician performances. Her service to the profession is greatly valued and appreciated." The award reviewers also noted these activities as incredibly influential – including serving as GMEA orchestra division chair, as Georgia ASTA president, and as a member-at-large on the national ASTA board. The impact that she has made in guest conducting roles not only influences those students in the ensembles, but also their teachers and families. Ball will receive the award during a presentation at the national conference in Orlando in March.

Cherokee Bluff already knew Seckinger wasn’t an ordinary first-year boys basketball program after the regular season meeting between the two teams in December.

In case the host Bears had forgotten, however, the Jaguars gave them a reminder during their Region 8-AAAA Tournament quarterfinal Monday night at Cherokee Bluff.

Seckinger got balanced scoring and held off multiple Cherokee Bluff attempts at a rally to earn the program’s first state tournament bid with a 65-54 victory. Carter Watkins led Seckinger with 15 points, 10 rebounds and three assists, but had plenty of help, with three other players in double figures and a fourth nearly joining them.

That total team effort not only put the Jaguars in the state tournament, it also moved them into the region semifinals, where they will take on Number 4 state-ranked Madison County on Thursday night.

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The news about the deaths of two Meadowcreek High School students this week has left the school’s community reeling as it mourns the teens.

First came the news that the remains found off State Route 316 this week belonged to Susana Morales, 16, who had been missing since last summer. Then came the news that another student who had recently gone missing, Rodrigo Floriano Mayen, 17, was recently found dead from an overdose. Police said on Friday that the deaths are not related to one another.

The deaths prompted Meadowcreek Principal Kevin Wood to send a letter to parents on Thursday. According to Gwinnett’s local health department, GNR Public Health, the Georgia 9-1-1 Medical Amnesty Act is designed to encourage people to seek help in the event of an overdose by providing “limited immunity from arrest, charge and prosecution for possession of certain drugs and drug paraphernalia for individuals who experience a drug overdose and are in need of medical care and for those who seek medical care in good faith for a person experiencing an overdose.”

Wood told Meadowcreek parents that counselors and social workers are being made available to students and staff members who need to talk to someone as they grieve the deaths of Morales and Mayen.

Duluth police have arrested a man, who has been described as a “witch doctor,” on charges that he allegedly raped a woman who went to him for a cleansing ritual last weekend.

Hassan Shalgheen, 44, met the victim through social media and set up a meeting for a cleansing at his apartment. On February 5, the victim contacted police, however, and told them that, rather than receiving a cleansing, she had been assaulted instead. Shalgheen was arrested on February 6 and booked into the Gwinnett County Jail. He has been charged with rape, sexual battery, false imprisonment and theft by deception.

Police are now looking to see if there are other women who have also been victims. Anyone who has been a victim, or has additional information about the case, is asked to call the detective handling the case.

In commemorating National School Counseling Week, Gwinnett County Public Schools held an awards program on Feb. 7 to recognize its top counseling award winners for 2023.

Those honored included Dr. Natalie Pugh of Gwin Oaks Elementary School, Jameela Hall of Lilburn Middle School and Dr. Cedric Cooks of Norcross High School. In addition, Dr. Eric Davidson, principal at Duluth High School was recognized as the Mary Joe Hannaford Counselor Administrator of the Year Award.

At the awards program, the school district also honored Duluth High School as a 2022 Recognized ASCA Model Program recipient. There are 34 counseling departments in the school system that are recipients of the RAMP National Award, which is awarded by the American School Counselor Association and recognizes schools that have established comprehensive data-driven counseling programs. This marks the second time Duluth High School has received RAMP recognition. A list of those honored can be found at Gwinnett Daily Post dot com.

 Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Wednesday that he has picked two members of Gwinnett County’s legislative delegation to serve on a joint committee that provides legislative oversight for MARTA.

State Senator Gloria Butler of Stone Mountain, and Representative Scott Hilton of Peachtree Corners, were among six legislators that Kemp appointed to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee, also known as MARTOC. While MARTA has its own board of directors, made up of members from counties that participate in the transit system, MARTOC is a joint House and Senate committee that serves a statutory role to provide oversight for MARTA, particularly in budgetary matters.

Although Hilton and Butler do represent districts that include parts of Gwinnett, their districts also include portions of counties which participate in MARTA. In Hilton’s case, that is a portion of Fulton County. In Butler’s case, it is a part of DeKalb County.

Duluth recently announced its 2023 event schedule which features many favorites the city is known for in addition to a concert by A1A: The Original Jimmy Buffett tribute band and the return of Viva Las Duluth.

The city’s event season kicks off in March with the Duluth Farmers & Artisan Market. In addition to shopping with local vendors on the second and fourth Sunday of every month through November, each market features live music.

Among the highlights:

Flicks on the Bricks returns with a free movie under the stars on August 4 and 18.

Fridays-N-Duluth (FND) kicks off May 26 from 6 to 9 p.m. in Downtown Duluth and runs through the end of July. FND will feature live music, food trucks and vendors. Themed nights will return on Fridays that fall on an even date. Themes will include Dog Days of Summer, Pride, Kick-Off to the Fourth, Whimsical Wonderland and International Night.

The Lantern Parade will be included in International Night on July 28.

City officials said signature events such as Back-to-School Bubblepalooza, Howl on the Green, Deck the Hall and Cookies & Cocoa with Santa will all be back for 2023. A1A will headline the Summer Stage Concert on August 12. Night at the Red Clay (formerly Cinema at the Red Clay) will continue in 2023 with an added twist — in addition to movie nights, there will be free concerts and comedy shows at the Red Clay Music Foundry. For more information please visit Duluth GA dot net.

A plane that was damaged as it was forced to make an emergency landing on Interstate 985 last month did so because it had lost all power on its way back to Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville, according to report from federal investigators.

The National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report into the Jan. 24 incident near Buford and Sugar Hill shows the Piper PA-28-140 airplane had been on a instructional flight when it experienced trouble. It’s landing on the interstate shut down I-985 for hours during rush hour traffic. The instructor was able to confirm that the plane’s throttle was full forward and that its fuel air mixture was full rich after the plane lost power, but they were too far out from Briscoe Field, where they had taken off from, to make it back safely. The plane was damaged during the attempted emergency landing. It clipped a truck before landing and the landing gear under the nose collapsed during the landing as well.

There was other damage that was also listed in the report. Despite the damage to the plane, the flight instructor and the student pilot were not injured during the landing.

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https://www.foxtheatre.org/ 

https://guideinc.org/ 

https://www.psponline.com/ 

https://www.kiamallofga.com/ 

https://www.milb.com/gwinnett 

https://www.fernbankmuseum.org/ 

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