DawsonTimes

Georgia Senate Passes Landmark Criminal Justice Reform Bill
 In a great show of bipartisan support today, the Georgia Senate passed HB 1176 by a vote of 51 to 0. The comprehensive sentencing and corrections reform bill promises to save Georgia taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, move low-level offenders permanently out of the system, and improve overall public safety. Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton), a long-time supporter of criminal justice reform in Georgia, carried the bill...
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Rep. Graves Announces Spring/Summer 2012 County Connection Days
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-9) has announced the 2012 spring/summer dates for his 9th Congressional District County Connection Program. A Constituent Services Representative from Congressman Graves’ office will be available to meet with constituents on the following dates and locations...
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Sen. Gooch: Weekly Legislative Update
Bidding will start next Friday on the new Cleveland Connector project, which is scheduled to break ground in June 2012.White County, which is in the heart of Georgia’s mountain country, is home to several of North Georgia’s most popular tourist destinations. On any given weekend, travelers come from all over to visit the cities of Helen and Blairsville. The Cleveland Connector, which will run from U.S. highway 129 south to state route 115 near the intersection of Tesnatee Gap Valley Rd., will help ease congestion during peak tourism months...
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Georgia Senate Passes School Grading Bill
The legislation requires a numerical score rating for individual schools and school systems based on student achievement, achievement gap closure and student progress. It also requires that a letter grade be assigned to each school and school system and included on each school and school system’s annual report card. The grade is derived from the numerical score, with a majority of the grade based on student achievement...
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Sen. Gooch: Under the Gold Dome Update
Each year, the General Assembly is constitutionally mandated to pass a balanced state budget. On Thursday, we were one step closer toward fulfilling this goal with the passage of the Senate’s FY 2012 amended budget...
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Georgia Ports Authority Showcases Regional Impact
For the Georgia Mountains Regional Commission area, the profile focused on major exports such as poultry, farm machinery and electric power equipment. The 13-county region did $71.4 million in export trade and $115.9 million in import trade, for a total of $187.3 million in port business in FY2011...
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Secretary of State Kemp Announces Release of Elections Advisory Council Final Report and Recommendations
The EAC, comprised of experienced election officials and leaders from across Georgia, looked particularly at improvements that will create cost savings and increase efficiencies for state, county and local governments...
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Sen. Gooch: Week 2 Legislative Update
The 2012 Legislative session is off to a fast start as lawmakers have already passed several pieces of legislation and met to discuss the Governor’s budget recommendations.  In addition to my duties at the Capitol, I spent time this week meeting with several key leaders from throughout the 51^st District as well as my constituents...
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Sen. Gooch: Future Looks Bright for Georgia
In what is normally a traditionally ceremonial first day of session, members of the Georgia General Assembly passed two significant bills aimed at setting a positive course for Georgia’s future. On the opening day of session, Senators worked to advance student achievement in the classroom and ensure the right people are in place to lead our students...
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Clint Smith to Run for State House of Representatives District 9 Seat
Clint Smith of Dawson County has announced his candidacy for the State House District 9 legislative seat. The new district includes all of Lumpkin County, the majority of Dawson County and a portion of Hall County. A long time Republican activist, Clint Smith served in the Georgia House of Representatives for eight years...
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Georgia Republicans Oppose Irresponsible Tax Policy
Today, the House of Representatives rejected the Senate amendment to H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act, and requested a meeting with the Senate to work out a compromise. The Senate’s amendment to the legislation only extended the tax relief through February, setting up yet another showdown on this issue in the coming months...
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Ribbon Cutting for the Dawson County Government Center
The citizens of Dawson County are invited to attend the Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting for the Dawson County Government Center. Tuesday, January 3, 2012...
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Dawson County Government Offices Moving to New Facility in January
On Wednesday, January 4, 2012, Dawson County government and judicial offices and services will begin moving into the new government center located at 25 Justice Way, Dawsonville, GA 30534. The move will be conducted in several phases and is expected to conclude by early February...
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Graves Statement on Bob Barr Decision not to Run for Congress in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District

U.S. Rep. Tom Graves released the following statement after former Congressman Bob Barr announced today he would not be challenging Rep. Graves in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District:

"Julie and I appreciate Bob and Jeri’s continued commitment to serving our nation.  During his tenure in Congress, I closely followed Bob’s work, learning much from his principled positions for less government and more personal freedom...

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Sen. Steve Gooch Co-Sponsored Legislation Promoting Responsible Welfare
Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega) co-sponsored Senate Bill 292, legislation which would require mandatory drug testing for social service recipients. Senate bill 292, known as the Social Responsibility and Accountability Act, would require recipients of Medicaid and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare programs to undergo drug tests similar to the routine drug-screening measures set forth by the private sector...
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Rep. Tom Graves Votes for National Right-to-Carry and Second Amendment Gun Rights
H.R. 822, The National Right-to-Carry Act of 2011, was introduced by U.S. Rep. Cliff (R-FL-6) on February 18, 2011.  The bill provides a national standard for conceal and carry permits in order to allow non-residents of a state to carry a concealed handgun, as long as they possess a valid conceal and carry permit in another state...
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Georgia Democrats Energized by Election Results
With Tuesday’s election results nearly complete, Georgia Democrats are energized by the beginning of a Democratic resurgence and further confirmation that their “5% Solution” is winning crucial races...
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In Touch with Your Dawson County Government
As we enter November, we are concluding two of Dawson County’s very successful programs for the year...
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Dawson County Scrap Tire Amnesty Day
Keep Dawson County Beautiful presents Dawson County residents a scrap tire amnesty day. Each household may dispose of, at no charge, up to 10 clean passenger car or light truck size tires at the Dawson County Transfer Station on Saturday, November 5, 2011 from 7 AM - 4 PM...
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Senators Form Caucus Honoring Wounded Warriors
The mission of the caucus is to support "Capitol Tours for America's Heroes," a program Senator Conrad developed earlier this year with the Department of Defense and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that offers rehabilitating service members guided tours of the United States Capitol...
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Boxer And Isakson Praise The Announcment of New Efforts To Help Homeowners Refinance
U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA) today praised the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s announcement of new steps it will take to reduce the barriers that have kept millions of responsible homeowners from refinancing and taking advantage of today’s record low interest rates...
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Georgia State Senate Announces Death of Former Secretary of the Senate
The Georgia State Senate is saddened to announce the death of Hamilton McWhorter Jr., Secretary of the Georgia Senate from 1967 – 1992. McWhorter, Jr. passed away Tuesday, October 18, 2011 at the Lenbrook Retirement Community in Atlanta...
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Dawson County Government, Bowen Center Partner to Showcase Local Art
Dawson County Government has partnered with the Dawson County Arts Council and the Bowen Center for the Arts to provide a showcase inside the new government center and courthouse for local artists. County Manager Kevin Tanner is excited about the collaboration. “We wanted to make this government building different from others. We wanted to recognize and highlight our local flavor and culture,” said Tanner. “This is an opportunity to show what talented artists we have in Dawson County.”...
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Georgia Secretary of State Kemp Announces Contract For New Voter Registration System
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp today announced that PCC Technology Group has been awarded the contract to replace Georgia’s voter registration system with its “ElectioNet” product suite...
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Isakson, Graves Introduce the HOME Act to Help Americans Keep their Homes
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) and U.S. Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-09) issued the following statement after introducing the HOME Act, a bill to allow Americans to make withdrawals from their retirement accounts to pay timely mortgage payments, in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives...
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HUD Approves $210 Million Mortage To Finance Major Construction
 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a commitment to insure a mortgage loan to St. Francis Hospital in Columbus,Georgia...
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Secretary of State Kemp Announces Georgia’s Presidential Preference Primary Date
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced today that the state will hold its presidential preference primary on Tuesday, March 6, 2012...
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Dawson County Board of Commissioners Notice of Special Called Meeting
The Board of Commissioners of Dawson County shall hold a special called meeting on Thursday, September 22, 2011 beginning at 4:00 p.m. in the G.L. Pete Gilleland meeting room located at City Hall located at 415 Highway 53 East, Dawsonville, Georgia...
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Satellite Tag Office Closing

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Help Dawson County Emergency Services Win a $10,000 Fire Safety Pledge Award
“Now through October 31, people can show their community support and learn more about fire safety simply by visiting the Be Fire Smart website and taking the quick online quiz,” said Emergency Services spokesperson Cathy Brooks. “It takes less than two minutes,” she added...
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