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Gwinnett Daily Post FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2016
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Vol. 46, No. 203
Police identify suspect in Norcross shooting BY ERIKA WELLS
erika.wells@gwinnettdailypost.com Police investigate a shooting at Norcross Extended Stay on Thursday morning. (Photo: Fox5 Atlanta)
The Gwinnett County Police Department has identified a suspect in the Thursday morning shooting of a security guard at the Norcross Extended Stay hotel. Detectives have named Xavier Geder, 32, as the man who possibly shot William Hudson, 46, at 2250 Pelican Drive in
Cops aren’t only workers Gwinnett can’t retain
unincorporated Norcross. Geder is wanted for aggravated assault and aggravated battery. Police released a photo Xavier of Geder on Geder Thursday evening but a motive for the crime was unavailable, police spokesman Cpl. Collin Flynn said in a
statement. Earlier, the police department received a 911 call from a hotel resident who said a security guard had been shot multiple times in a hallway, Flynn said. When officers arrived, the hotel was evacuated and police found the victim. The victim was immediately taken to the hospital in critical
FOOD
See SHOOTING, Page 8A
FIGHT
Turnover widespread in many departments BY CURT YEOMANS curt.yeomans@gwinnettdailypost.com
Gwinnett County law enforcement officials, it turns out, are not the only people in county government who are concerned about losing qualified employees to competing agencies and governments. Human Resources Director Scott Fuller told a citizens budget review committee on Thursday that it’s a widespread problem across county government. The issue hits close to home for Fuller’s department, It’s not a which has seen bad thing its own share to have of employees employment with lured away by Gwinnett County jobs in other governments, on your resume if agencies and you’re looking for businesses. a job someplace “The else.” economy has — Gwinnett County stepped up so Commission Chairwoman there’s more Charlotte Nash competition for county employees,” Fuller told the committee. “We’ve got some folks that are leaving at a little higher level, but we’re doing our best. We’re doing a very good job at filling our positions, as challenging as it is, but our goals remain the same for next year.” The county’s government has an 11.38 percent year-to-date voluntary turnover rate, although officials had set a goal of keeping it at or below 7 percent before the year began. Their goal for 2017 is again to try limiting it to that 7 percent threshold. The key part of that turnover rate is that it’s voluntary departures, largely meaning people who are leaving to take jobs elsewhere. In many cases, an offer of
“
See GWINNETT, Page 8A
Christian Millets, left, a Mill Creek High School sophomore, and his father, Ken, carry a box of canned goods donated during the Friday Night Food Fight competition between Mill Creek and Dacula high schools. More than 17,000 pounds of canned goods were donated through Wednesday in support of the food pantry at Hamilton Mill United Methodist Church. (Staff Photos: Keith Farner)
Dacula, Mill Creek square off in canned-goods rivalry
BY KEITH FARNER
keith.farner @gwinnettdailypost.com
DACULA — There’s no question the rivalry between Dacula and Mill Creek high schools runs deep, and the past two weeks have proved those feelings can go all the way to canned goods. Thanks to an idea this past spring from the student council president at Mill Creek, the schools have combined through competition to stock
the food pantry at Hamilton Mill United Methodist Church to levels not seen in recent memory for the 6-year-old ministry. Hamilton Mill UMC sits between the schools, which are about nine miles apart, and is about three miles from Mill Creek. The schools are calling their competition Friday Night Food Fight. From last week until kickoff of tonight’s game at Mill Creek, students have donated thousands of pounds
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of canned goods and nonperishable items. Food will be accepted in the parking lot up to the 7:30 p.m. kickoff and the winner will be announced at halftime. The food will support the 90 or so families a week from Gwinnett, Barrow and Hall counties who are served by the
MORE ON PREP FOOTBALL INSIDE • It’s the year of the quarterback, Page 1B • Hot-starting Comets, Broncos face off, Page 1B • Parkview-Lowndes clash pushed back, Page 4B • N.Y. foe is a trip to the unknown for Buford, Page 5B
See FOOD, Page 8A
‘In the Heights’ helps Aurora Theatre attain fundraising goal generation to support theater,” said Anthony Rodriguez, the Aurora Theatre’s co-founder The success of “In the who was also in the show’s Heights” at the Aurora Theatre cast. “It may not have had as extended beyond the tickets much name recognition as that were sold during the Tony some of the other productions Award and Grammy Awardwe’ve had, but we knew that winning musical’s five-week once our audience heard the run in Lawrenceville. show’s music, they’d buy into “The show brought in a it.” much younger demographic And did they ever. “In the and that’s huge for us because Heights” sold 10,140 tickets if we are going to stay open, collectively for its 42 perforwe need to get the younger mances, an average of 241 a BY JON GALLO
From left, Kari Twyman, Robert Mason II, Pytron Parker, Joseph Pendergrast, Tina Fears and Candice McLellan perform the melodies of “In the Heights” on the Aurora Theatre stage during opening night. (Special Photo: Chris Bartelski)
Staff Correspondent
show — a mark only surpassed at the Aurora Theatre by “Les Misérables,” which sold 10,763 tickets for its 43 performances — an average of 250 a show — in January 2015. “In the Heights” was also a major driver behind the Aurora Theatre’s $96,000 Challenge, one of the venue’s major fundraisers. The goal was to raise $96,000 — identi-
See AURORA, Page 8A
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