MARK RICHARDS

RISING FAWN, GA.: Mark Lamar Richards, age 65, passed away Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Mark was a kind-hearted man who saw the good in everyone. He was also a loving and compassionate husband and father. He and his late wife, Deborah, helped raise dozens of foster kids over the years.

He was preceded in death by his wife Deborah Massey Richards, brother Tommy Tinnon, foster mother Elsie Coffman.

Left to cherish his memory are his children Amy (Scott) Sivak, Kim Richards, Emily Richards, and Mark (Tiffany) Richards; grandchildren Aiyana and Judah Sivak, Trevor and Adilynn Dean Richards, Shiloh Richards, nieces, nephews and a host of friends.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, June 13, 2020 at 10:00 AM EDT at Mt. Carmel Gospel Church. Burial will follow in Mt. Carmel Gospel Church Cemetery.

The family will receive friends Friday, June 12th from 3:00 PM ~ 7:00 PM EDT at the Trenton Chapel of Moore Funeral Home.

Charitable donations may be made in Mark’s memory to the Walker County Department of Family and Children Services for foster care, support or needs.

Please visit www.MooreFHS.com to share condolences.

Arrangements by Moore Funeral Home, Trenton, GA.

DONALD G. CLARK

Donald G. Clark, 67, of Trenton, GA, passed away on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. He was a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corp.

Donald was a humble, hard-working man of few words and possessed heart, strength, courage, and loyalty that was unsurpassed. He was preceded in death by his mother, Annie Stoner Clark.

Donald is survived by his wife, Audrey Jeffery Clark; sons, Tanner (Brandi) Clark, & Sawyer (Brandy) Clark; grandchildren, Kaylee, Karrigan, Cole & Collins Clark.

Please share expressions of sympathy at ryanfuneralhome.net.

A celebration of Donald’s life will be held on Friday, June 5th at 7:00 p.m. at Trenton First Baptist Church. The family will receive friends beginning at 5:00 Friday at the church, located at 11905 S. Main Street, Trenton.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to Trenton First Baptist Church building fund.

Arrangements are by Ryan Funeral Home & Crematory, Trenton, GA.

No Major Changes in Leadership After Primary; Runoffs Expected in at least Three Races

by: Summer Kelley

A bid to move up into the Georgia Senate by District 1 Representative Colton Moore was defeated Tuesday night as Republican Incumbent of the 53rd Senate District Jeff Mullis ended the Primary with 16,086 votes, or 54.67%. Moore received a total of 34.7%, or 10,210, votes with Todd Noblitt at 10.64%, or 3,130 votes. In Dade County, Moore had 2,202 votes to Mullis' 1,139 votes with Noblitt receiving 232.

The Georgia House District 1 seat, which Moore is vacating, will see a runoff between former Representative John Deffenbaugh who received 41.74% of the votes, or 3,561 votes, and Mike Cameron who received 37.07% of the votes, or 3,163 votes. The third candidate for the seat, Vikki Mills, received 21.9%, or 1,808 votes. In Georgia, when there are three candidates, one candidate must receive 50% plus one in order to avoid a runoff. Dade voting mirrored the final results of the race with Deffenbaugh receiving 1,358 votes, Cameron 1,177, and Mills 785.

The Dade County Commission remains unchanged after Tuesday's election. One of the larger turnouts for an election with a total of 4,193 ballots cast. A close race between County Commission District 3 (Incumbent) Robert Goff who ended with 1747 votes and challenger Jerry Henegar who claimed just thirty votes less at 1717. 

County Executive (Incumbent) Ted Rumley received 2123 votes to 1421 votes for Nathan Wooten and County Commission District 4 (Incumbent) Allan Bradford had 2020 votes, Jeremy Dyer 1137 and Randy Stone 327 votes. 

The Board Of Education At Large, District 5, seat will see a runoff between Dr. Jayne Griffin who received 1294 votes and Brooke Wilson who received 1078 votes. Patrick Hickey, the third candidate for the seat ended with 644 votes. 

Another six years of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) was approved by Dade County voters with 2401 people voting yes and 1383 voting no. 

Sunday Alcohol Sales were also approved by voters with Liquor by the Drink  receiving 2468 yes votes and 1603 no votes. Package Sales passed 2538 votes to 1535.

A runoff in two of the Federal races is likely as well, but with only 80% reporting in as of Noon Wednesday, results could still change. A Democratic runoff might be in the offing in the race to run against U.S. Senator and Republican Incumbent David Perdue. Out of the seven Democratic candidates, Jon Ossof currently has 48.61% of the votes with Teresa Pike Tomlinson following with 14.60% of the votes out of fourteen and Sarah Riggs Amico close behind her with 13.31% of the votes.

In the U.S. House of Representatives District 14 seat race on the Republican ticket and with 90.91% reporting in at noon on Wednesday, a runoff looks likely as well. Nine candidates on the ticket are vying to run against Democratic candidate Kevin Van Ausdal. Currently Marjorie Taylor Greene leads with 41.49% of the votes and after Greene is John Cowan with 17.72% of the votes.

The General Primary Runoff, Nonpartisan General Runoff, and Special Runoff Election for Local and State Offices and General Primary Runoff Election for Federal Offices will be held on August 11and preceded by three weeks of early voting.

Election results and reporting can be found on the Georgia Secretary of State website at sos.ga.gov.