January 27, 2019 — Gwinnett Daily Post

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POOL MASTERS Brookwood boys, girls sweep county swim titles • Sports, 10A

TRAINING FOR SERVICE, 1C

Jail Dogs helping find companions for veterans

Gwinnett Daily Post SUNDAY, JANUARY 27, 2019

www.gwinnettdailypost.com

$2.00 ©2019 SCNI

Vol. 49, No. 12

Postage stamp honors first responders BY ISABEL HUGHES

isabel.hughes @gwinnettdailypost.com

Every first responder has a story. Whether that story is the explanation of why they got into the profession or a call they responded to as an emergency worker, there are thousands of different narratives told every day. A recently released U.S.

Postal Service stamp, Honoring First Responders, tries to tell one story, however — the story of an emergency worker’s job. “You can see it,” said Gwinnett County Police Department Assistant Chief Jesse Jones. “You have first responders, and they’re rushing to a scene. (The stamp) tells a story … of what we do.” On Friday, Norcross

Postmaster Cory Muldrow presided over a rededication ceremony for the stamp, which was first released and dedicated in September at the Aerial Fire Depot and Smokejumper Center in Missoula, Mont. The Norcross dedication, which came as part of the Southeastern Stamp Expo, was held in remembrance of

Gwinnett County Police Department Assistant Chief Jesse Jones, left, stands with Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services Chief of Operations Fred Cephas at an Honoring First Responders stamp dedication in Norcross on Friday. (Special Photo)

See STAMP, Page 5A

Hull Middle student wins 4th straight county bee

BRING ONE FOR THE CHIPPER

BY CURT YEOMANS curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com

Going evergreen

Brookwood High School student Marc Brown, 17, carries a Christmas tree to a chipper during Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s Bring One For The Chipper event at Bethesda Park in Lawrenceville on Saturday. (Staff Photos: Curt Yeomans)

More than 100 volunteers help recycle trees at event BY CURT YEOMANS

curt.yeomans @gwinnettdailypost.com

There is something about the smell of a live Christmas tree that appeals to Norcross High School student Sorif Islam, so he said he felt drawn to drop by Bethesda Park in Lawrenceville on Saturday morning to help grind them up. Islam was one of several volunteers who helped out at Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s Bring One For The Chipper event at the park. The volunteers pulled former Christmas trees out of piles in the park’s parking lot and carried them over to profesMORE ONLINE sional wood chipping crews Visit gwinnettdailypost.com that fed them into machines for a photo gallery. that quickly reduced the trees to mulch. It didn’t take long for a lingering in the air where the scent of fresh cut trees to start volunteers were working, and

Volunteers carry Christmas trees to a chipper during Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s Bring One For The Chipper event at Bethesda Park in Lawrenceville on Saturday.

that didn’t bother Islam at all. “It just reminds of the holidays,” Islam said of the smell. About 140 volunteers gathered at Bethesda Park on Saturday morning to help put thousands of former Christ-

Winning spelling competitions in Gwinnett County is becoming old hat for Hull Middle School seventh-grader Abhiram Kapaganty. The 13-year-old made his dominance of the county spelling bee circuit a four-peat on Saturday as he won his fourth consecutive Gwinnett County Spelling Bee, besting spellers from across Gwinnett County Public Schools. MORE ONLINE Despite Visit gwinnettdailypost.com coming into for a photo gallery. the competition as a three-time defending county champion — who has made a couple of trips to the Scripps National Spelling Bee — he said he didn’t feel too much pressure as he was asked to show his spelling prowess. “You kind of get used to the stage effect (after three previous championships),” he said. Top spellers from all of Gwinnett’s elementary and middle schools competed in the spelling bee Saturday. The students first competed in a written round and then the top 15 students competed in an oral round that gradually whittled the competitors down to a single winner, 13 other regional qualifiers and an alternate for the regional competition. The top spellers from the county’s spelling bee advance to the Region 3 Spelling Bee, which will be held Feb. 23 at the Barrow County Schools Professional Development Center in Winder. In the championship round, Kapaganty faced eventual runner-up Sylvia Wright from Creekland Middle School, but his fourth county spelling bee title didn’t come without some last minute theatrics. See BEE, Page 5A

mas trees through the chipper. While they were decorated for the holiday season about a month ago, they were nothing more than wood chips by the See CHIPPER, Page 5A

Above left, from left, Brookwood High School students Seemi Momin, 16, and Reagan Patterson, 16, carry a Christmas tree to a chipper during Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful’s Bring One For The Chipper event at Bethesda Park in Lawrenceville on Saturday. Above center, from left, Meadowcreek High School students Alina Vasquez, 18, and Nayeli Aldana, 17, carry a Christmas tree to a chipper. Above right, Brookwood High School student Melanie Avila, 16, carries a Christmas tree to a chipper.

Hull Middle School seventh-grader Abhiram Kapaganty spells a word during the Gwinnett County Spelling Bee at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville on Saturday. (Staff Photo: Curt Yeomans)

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INSIDE Ask Amy.........4A

Community ....1C

Local ............. 2A

Perspectives 13A

Classified .....14A

Crossword ... 11C

Lottery........... 4A

Sports .......... 10A

Comics......... 11C

Horoscope .....4A

Obituaries ......6A

Weather .........4A

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