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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