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Tigers take top spot
in Region 7-AAA
SPORTS, 1A
Check out the
inaugural issue of
‘Dawson Living’
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DawsonCountyNews
WEDNESDAY I DECEMBER 25, 2019 DaWSOflNeWS ^COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00
Grand jury indicts Stryker, 3 others
By Alex Popp
DCN Regional Staff
Four men arrested following
the death of Lumpkin County
woman Hannah Bender, have
now been formally charged by
the Dawson County Superior
Court.
On Wednesday, Austin Stryker,
24, Isaac Huff, 18, Dylan Reid,
19, were indicted on a host of
charges related to Bender’s death,
including murder, aggra
vated assault and battery,
concealing the death of
another and violation of
the state’s Street Gang
Terrorism and Prevention
Act.
Four men arrested fol
lowing the death of
Lumpkin County woman
Hannah Bender, have now been
formally charged by the Dawson
County Superior Court.
On Wednesday, Austin
Stryker, 24, Isaac Huff,
18, Dylan Reid, 19, were
indicted on a host of
charges related to
Bender’s death, including
murder, aggravated
assault and battery, con
cealing the death of
another and violation of
the state’s Street Gang Terrorism
and Prevention Act.
According to the indictment,
Stryker, Huff and Reid are
accused of shooting and stabbing
the 21-year-old woman and con
cealing her body on Sept. 15,
2019. Harper has been accused of
harboring Stryker following the
murder.
Sources close to the investiga
tion claim that they now believe
the murder may have happened in
Dawson County, before the sus
pects disposed of the body in
Forsyth County and planted evi
dence at a campsite in Lumpkin
County in an attempt to throw off
investigators.
All four men have also been
charged for allegedly participat
ing in “criminal gang activity”
and violating Georgia’s Street
Gang Terrorism and Prevention
Act.
Huff, Harper and Reid are
being held in the Dawson County
See Indictment 14A
1
V7
4
Stryker
‘Teaching is my calling’
Jessica Taylor Dawson County News
Dawson County Middle School science teacher Renee Rogers is announced by DCMS Principal Dr. Randi
Sagona asTeacher of the Year for the Dawson County School System on Dec. 10 at the board of education meeting.
Renee Rogers is named System-wide Teacher of the Year
By Jessica Taylor
jtaylor@dawsonnews.com
For some, a job is just a job. For
Renee Rogers, her job is so much
more. It’s a calling.
The seventh grade science teacher at
Dawson County Middle School was
recently announced as, not just her
school’s Teacher of the Year, but the
system-wide Teacher of the Year.
Rogers has been an educator for 31
years, all in Dawson County , and she
is “currently teaching the kids of the
kids that I taught a long, long
time ago.”
It all started at home as Rogers
watched her grandmother, Lucille
Peck, who was a teacher in a one-room
schoolhouse. Then two teachers came
into Rogers’ life that further inspired
her passion for education.
“I had a third grade teacher named
Lucille Hultsey and she made an egg
go into a glass milk bottle and that was
like the most magical thing I’d ever
seen in my life,” Rogers recalled.
It was that moment when Rogers felt
a strong connection to science. Having
grown up on her family’s chicken farm
and grandfather’s dairy farm, she was
used to agricultural sciences from an
early age.
“From the time that I was tiny, I was in
one place or the other, and science just
came natural to me,” Rogers recalled.
Then in middle school, Rogers met
her Language Arts teacher, Wendall
Allison, who would become the inspi
ration for Rogers’ teaching style.
“I guess if I could compare myself to
any former teacher, I’m probably the
most like her,” Rogers said. “There
was no drama. She set her standard
and you worked to meet her standard.
She mothered everybody. She didn’t
have any kids of her own but she
would always tell us that we were
her babies.”
Rogers was the fifth third grade
teacher to be hired in Dawson County
back when she was just 21 years old.
For the first 19 years of her career, she
taught third grade at Robinson
Elementary School (RES) and Black’s
Mill Elementary before serving as the
Gifted and ESOL Director at RES for
another six years. From there, she
decided she wanted a change and
became a middle school science teach
er. She also became the Soccer Mama
for the Dawson County High School
soccer teams as she never limited her
impacts to the classroom.
“Over the years, my kids have not
just consisted of my kids in the class
room but those soccer kids,” Rogers
said. “Overall my biggest joy is seeing
those kids succeed.”
It’s always an experience in Rogers’
classroom as she always strives to
bring the outside world into the class
room to give her students hands-on
Ethics Board
accepts 6 of 9
complaints
From staff reports
The City of Dawsonville Ethics Board
met Friday, Dec. 20 to deliberate on the
merit of nine ethics complaints brought
against Dawsonville City Councilmember
Mark French.
The complaints against French, which
date back to a series of emails between
French, Dawsonville City Manager Bob
Bolz, and Mr. Steve Sanvi, a private citi
zen and resident of Dawsonville, allege
that the councilmember abused his power
by directing Bolz to consult with City
See Ethics 15A
Best of Dawson
2020 nominations
end December 31
From staff reports
There is less than a week left to get nomina
tions in for the 2020 Best of Dawson contest.
Thousands of nominations have been sub
mitted so far in the annual reader’s choice
awards contest. Nominate your favorite busi
ness, organization, workplace, restaurant or
person in each of our over 200 categories and
give them a chance to show the world that
they are the best that Dawson County has to
offer.
Readers can nominate a person or business
at www.bestofdawson.com.
Nominations will not immediately appear
as they are moderated to ensure a business or
person is in the correct category and that they
serve Dawson County.
Nominations will close at midnight Dec.
31. Any businesses not nominated by 11:59
p.m. Dec. 31 will not be eligible for the voting
period, which will begin Jan. 1 and run
through Jan. 31.
Winners will be announced in a special pub
lication magazine that will insert into the
Dawson County News on March 25. A special
event for the 2020 winners will be held in
March, with more details coming at a later date.
For information on marketing opportunities
in this year’s contest, contact Jenn Richardson
at (706) 265-3384 or jrichardson@dawson-
news.com.
See Teacher 16A
0
9 0 9 9
Inside
Volume 4, Number 65
© 2019, Dawson County News
Dawsonville, Georgia
Church Events
3B
Classifieds
8B
Dear Abby
7B
Deaths
2A
Legals
9B
Opinion
9A
Sports
1B
3A Shop with a
Cop provides
over 100
Christmas
wishes
6A Lanier Tech
director of
curriculum
wins award
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