GOING THE DISTANCE, 1B
Lions’ Ahn enhances resume with longer swim events
Gwinnett Daily Post WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018
www.gwinnettdailypost.com
75 cents ©2018 SCNI
Vol. 48, No. 177
from SCNIevents.com
Abrams, Kemp holding Gwinnett rallies BY CURT YEOMANS
curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com
Stacey Abrams
Brian Kemp
Both major party candidates for governor are coming to Gwinnett this week in final appeals to voters for their support at the polls. Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams will be in Norcross on Thursday for a Get Out The Vote
Rally with lieutenant governor can- MORE INSIDE didate Sarah Riggs Amico and 7th • Obama to campaign in Atlanta .....3A Congressional District candidate • Super PAC with Bloomberg ties spends almost $1M for Bordeaux ...3A Carolyn Bourdeaux. It will take • Nearly 2,000 ballots cast in county’s place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. first go at Sunday voting .................5A at the Best Friend Park Pavilion, • Biographies of candidates in congressional races ........................5A which is located at 6224 Jimmy Carter Blvd. Republican nominee Brian Kemp “Road To Victory” bus tour with and the Georgia Republican Party lieutenant governor nominee Geoff
Persevering Panther Clubs, mentor help Parkview senior deal with parents’ deaths BY TREVOR MCNABOE
Body found in burning automobile Police: Lawrenceville incident is ‘suspicious’
trevor.mcnaboe @gwinnettdailypost.com
Parkview High School senior Kaustov Chakrabarti is wise beyond his years. At 18 years old, he’s thinking not hours and days ahead, but rather in terms of years. A typical day for the Lilburn resident starts well before the 7:17 a.m. warning bell for first period at Parkview High School and lasts long after the final whistle of football practice for the Panthers. “I wanted to separate myself from other students and help myself become more successful,” Chakrabarti said. “Not just in school but in life and my relationships.” It is an internal force and drive that keeps him on track after life events almost derailed him. During the first semester of his freshman year, Chakrabarti’s father, Satyam, died from brain cancer on Sept. 15, 2015. A year later in October, his mother, Kumkum, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died almost a year later during her son’s junior year of high school. She was 57. “It was a lot to process when it happened just because my guardians are gone,” Chakrabarti said. “I depended on my parents for guidance, support, just basically everything.” The Parkview teenager said he slipped into a state of mental shock as he picked up the pieces and moved in with his aunt and uncle to their Lilburn residence. “I had to realize and say to myself, ‘OK, what do I do next that can benefit me and my family in the future?’” Chakrabarti said. “I’m not the type to give up, and I got that from my dad. He was persistent.” After school and club obligations, he said he would come home and hit the books from 4 to 11 p.m. “I was making B’s and C’s,
Duncan, Attorney General Chris Carr and other local officials will visit Peachtree Corners on Saturday. It will take place at 11 a.m. at Mojitos Cuban American Bistro, which is located at 5161 Peachtree Parkway, Suite No. 630. Recent polls have indicated Abrams and Kemp are virtually tied as Election Day approaches.
BY ISABEL HUGHES isabel.hughes@gwinnettdailypost.com
Lawrenceville police are calling the investigation into a person who was found dead inside a burning vehicle in a subdivision parking lot early Tuesday morning “suspicious.” Police responded to Village Bluff Drive in Lawrenceville at about 3:30 a.m. after a neighbor called 911 after hearing “a loud popping sound and seeing flames,” officials said. “Officers arrived and awaited the Gwinnett County Fire Department’s arrival to extinguish the fire,” said Lt. Jake Parker, spokesman for the Lawrenceville Police Department. “Once the fire was out, it was discovered that there was a body within the vehicle.” Police have not released additional information about the death, only that they are “working to identify the person and the car,” Parker said. “We are awaiting details from the medical examiner regarding the cause of death and identity,” he said. “We do not have any additional information at the moment but as we learn more, we will make it available.” Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Gwinnett Fire Investigations Section at 678-518-4890 or the Georgia Arson Control Hotline at 1-800-282-5804. Georgia Arson Control offers a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for arson. Tips can be made anonymously.
Parkview senior Kaustov Chakrabarti lost his parents during his freshman and junior years. School, athletics and mentorship have helped him cope. (Special Photo)
and after my mom passed away, my grades just dropped,” Chakrabarti said. “I realized that studying for just two hours wasn’t going to help and I needed to make changes.” He decided to start waking
up at 3 a.m. to do more studying and meet the day head-on. “I did it to get a head start of three hours each day,” Chakrabarti said. “If you wake up early, you get a head start. By waking up three hours earlier, I was
faster than what life wanted me to be.” Each day, Chakrabarti balances the rigor of taking four Advanced Placement courses See PERSEVERE, Page 7A
Authorities investigate after a body was found inside a burning vehicle in Lawrenceville early Tuesday morning. (Photo: FOX 5 Atlanta)
Church official raising funds to honor friends with cancer BY CURT YEOMANS
is coming up on Saturday; and raise $10,000 for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, also known as Jeff Poynter had four “Pan Can.” goals that he wanted to With only a few days accomplish when he began left before the marathon, raising money for pancre- Poynter has already raised atic cancer research earlier four times the amount of this year. money he set out to raise He wanted to show — and donations are still devotion to God; honor coming in. his friends, Cliff Ramos “It’s been unbelievable,” and Donna Bennett, who Poynter said. “I get chills are battling pancreatic just thinking about it and cancer by getting people I give all of the credit to to pray for them; finish the God.” 26.2-mile Rock ’n’ Roll As of Tuesday, members Savannah Marathon that of the community had al-
First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville business administrator Jeff Poynter, right, poses with his friend, longtime Collins Hill High School wrestling coach Cliff Ramos, in this undated photograph. Poynter is running a marathon in Savannah this weekend and has so far raised more than $40,000 for pancreatic cancer research in honor of Ramos and coworker Donna Bennett, both of whom have the cancer. (Special Photo)
curt.yeomans @gwinnettdailypost.com
ready given $40,855 to the fundraising effort undertaken by Poynter, who is the business administrator at First United Methodist Church of Lawrenceville. After he surpassed his initial $10,000 goal, he raised it to $20,000 before eventually going on to raise twice that amount. Poynter said doing something to fight pancreatic cancer in honor of Ramos and Bennett was a calling from God. “I struggled with what to do (and) how I could help,” Poynter said. “A
couple of years ago, I started walking/jogging/ running. I’ve done five half-marathons now and I use a lot of that time for prayer. “I was just praying one morning on one of my runs, and I’ve never audibly heard God tell me to do anything, but I (suddenly) thought, ‘I think I need to do a marathon and raise money for this organization in honor of Cliff and Donna.’” He and Ramos, the
See CANCER, Page 7A
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