Thirty Cherokee County elementary and middle school students tested their spelling skills at the 2023 Cherokee County School District Spelling Bee on January 18 at Cherokee High School.
Joli Palmquist, an eighth-grade student at Mill Creek Middle School, took home the first-place title and trophy with her accurate spellings of “ascension” and “importunate.”
E.T. Booth Middle School’s Rohan Pandya earned second place, and Charli Wallace of Creekland Middle School placed third.
Palmquist, Pandya and Wallace will all move forward to compete in the regional Georgia Association of Educators spelling bee next month. Winners of the regional bee will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June at Washington, D.C.
The annual competition put students through 15 rounds across a 90-minute span. Among the extensive list of over 200 words were “indefatigable,” “quittance” and “zoolatry.”
The Canton City Council has called for a special election to fill the open seat formerly held by Councilman Will Carlan, who stepped down to become a full-time Cherokee County magistrate judge.
Council members unanimously voted Thursday to call for the special election, which will be held in conjunction with the city’s general election November 7. The winner of the special election is to take office immediately upon certification of the results.
Canton Mayor Bill Grant recommended at the Jan. 5 council meeting that the city council leave the seat vacant until the November election, citing the work the city is doing to change the council ward lines.
Council members also unanimously approved qualifying dates and fees for the general and special elections for mayor and city council positions. Terms for a Ward 1 council seat, Ward 2 council seat, Ward 3 council seat and the mayoral seat will expire on December 31, 2023. The special election will be for the vacant Ward 2 seat.
Qualifying dates are Aug. 21 to 23. The city’s qualifying fee is 3% of the elected position’s annual salary: $360 for council members and $540 for mayor. The council also unanimously approved an IGA with the county to conduct the city’s election.
*** Woodstock Fire and Rescue Chief Dave Soumas is retiring after three decades serving the city, Mayor Michael Caldwell announced Friday.
Soumas, who has been fire chief since 2009, is credited with leading the department through many achievements while serving a growing city. He is the longest-tenured chief in the city’s history.
He began his career at the Woodstock Fire Department in 1988 as a firefighter and EMT, according to the city. In 1994 he was promoted to sergeant and driver engineer, and in 1998 he became a captain and fire marshal. Four months later, he was promoted to assistant chief and fire marshal. Soumas has earned multiple National Board of Fire Service professional qualifications.
He earned an Arson Investigation Certificate from Georgia Public Safety Training Center where he received an award for academic excellence.
Soumas established special units in the Woodstock Fire Department including the Swiftwater Rescue Team, the Bike Team, and the Technical Rope Team. As fire chief, Soumas ensured every member of the department received state Basic Life Support certification and introduced two rescue trucks.
As assistant chief, Soumas oversaw the building of Fire Station 14 in 2001 and the purchase of Woodstock’s $1 million ladder truck.
Under his leadership, Woodstock Fire and Rescue has an Insurance Services Office rating of 1, the highest score awarded, which indicates the highest level of fire protection for residents and property owners. Woodstock Fire first earned this distinction in 2015, and is one of only 456 departments in the United States with this rating.
Two new members were sworn in Thursday to the Cherokee County Board of Education.
Erin Ragsdale from Towne Lake and Susan Padgett-Harrison from Canton were sworn in with family members after they were elected to join the school board in November.
Ragsdale is a speech language pathologist. She is married to Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Trey Ragsdale, and they have two students in CCSD. Padgett-Harrison is a retired longtime educator and leader in the school district. She has three grandchildren, two of whom teach for CCSD, and 12 grandchildren.
School board members John Harmon, from Hickory Flat, and Rick “Steiner” Rechsteiner from southwest Cherokee were also sworn in to serve new terms after they were reelected to their posts.
Cherokee County Probate Court Judge Keith Wood administered the school board members’ oaths of office.
The school board also elected Steiner to serve as its vice chair for the year. The school board chair, Kyla Cromer, is elected by residents countywide, while the other school board seats are elected by district.
A mobile home near Woodstock in Cherokee County was destroyed in a fire Friday morning, Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services announced.
Cherokee County and Woodstock firefighters responded to a residential structure fire, with Cherokee Sheriff’s Office deputies Friday morning, in the area of Mill Creek Road and Arnold Mill Road near River Ridge High School.
Firefighters arrived on scene to find a mobile home fully involved, Cherokee Fire reported. No occupants were home at the time of the fire, though the home was destroyed, according to Cherokee Fire spokesman Lt. Michael Sims.
Crews continued to work on scene and drivers experienced traffic delays in the area for about an hour.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, Sims said.
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