The Georgia Department of Transportation has named a new district engineer for the 21-county Northeast Georgia District 1, which includes Hall. Brent Cook, assistant district engineer since 2013, will take over duties today from Bayne Smith, who now serves as the DOT’s director of field services. Cook, who lives in Cumming, began his career in the DOT’s training program in 1992, moving in 1998 to Gainesville-based District 1 as planning and programming engineer.