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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31,2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
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Sardis Connector closer to right of way acquisition
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Right of way acquisition for the
long-awaited Sardis Connector in
northwest Hall County could begin
next summer and take two years
to complete, engineer Denise Farr
said this week.
Construction could follow two
to three years “after everything is
acquired,” she said.
Area residents will be able to get
more information during a public
information meeting set for Nov.
15 at Chestatee High School. Maps
of the project will be available. The
meeting won’t feature any formal
presentations.
The planned 3.4-mile, four-lane
road, which has been discussed for
years, would run from Dawsonville
Highway/Ga. 53 in West Hall, start
ing at the intersection of Sardis
and Chestatee roads, to Thompson
Bridge Road/Ga. 60 in North Hall,
ending near Mount Vernon Road.
“The project would consist of
a combination of widening and
reconstruction on several existing
local roads and roadway construc
tion on new locations,” the proj
ect’s legal ad states.
The new connector is targeted to
run along existing segments of Sar
dis Road, Fran Mar Drive, Brack
ett Drive, Ladd Drive, Ledan Road
and Southern Road.
■ Please see SARDIS, 6A
Sardis Connector
What: A public meeting
featuring maps of the
proposed road project
When: 5-7 p.m. Nov. 15
Where: Chestatee High School,
3005 Sardis Road, Gainesville
More info: 770-531 -6800 or
hallcounty.org/397/Sardis-
Connector-Maps
‘Fight for our future’
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Gubernatorial candidate Kemp speaks to supporters in Gainesville
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
Brian Kemp told voters
in Gainesville on Tuesday
morning that the Nov. 6 elec
tion, in which he is running
for governor, is “a fight for
our future.”
Kemp, Georgia’s Secre
tary of State, encouraged
supporters at Longstreet
Cafe to head to the polls.
“(Democrats) are turn
ing their base out in historic
levels. You may not see that
here in Northeast Georgia,
but I promise it’s happen
ing,” Kemp said. “We can
not allow people to sit at
home. We have to squeeze
out every vote that we can to
put up a red wall around the
good work that these good
folks have done in this state
for 16 years now and knock
■ Please see KEMP, 6A
Online
View live footage from the
event at facebook.com/
gainesvilletimes.
Above: Brian
Kemp, Georgia’s
Secretary of
State and
Republican
candidate for
governor, speaks
to supporters at
Longstreet Cafe
on Tuesday, Oct.
30. Below: Kemp
greets Stacey
Reece, owner of
Spherion, during
Kemp’s visit at
Longstreet Cafe.
Photos by
AUSTIN STEELE
The Times
‘(Democrats) are turning their base out in historic levels.
You may not see that here in Northeast Georgia ...We have
to squeeze out every vote that we can to put up a red wall
around the good work that these good folks have done in
this state for 16 years now and knock that blue wave down.’
Brian Kemp, Secretary of State and Republican candidate for governor
Stephens Jr.
Suspect in
2016 N. Hall
burglaries
arrested
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
One of nine suspects charged in 2016 with
smash-and-grab burglaries across Hall County
was arrested Monday.
The arrest is part of a larger statewide inves
tigation into an estimated $1.35 million in prop
erty damages and loss that led to more than 300
arrest warrants in 2017.
“The targets of this criminal
gang known to investigators
as ‘ABM’, All About Money,
included gas stations and
mom-and-pop type grocery
stores,” Lt. Scott Ware wrote
in a November 2017 news
release. “The primary items
which were stolen during the
burglaries were safes, ATM
machines and cigarettes.”
Gary Javon Stephens Jr., of Atlanta, was at
the Gwinnett County Jail on other charges when
the Hall County arrest warrant was served Oct.
29, according to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
Stephens is accused of three counts of smash-
and-grab burglary after “knocking a hole in the
back wall” of three North Hall businesses and
taking merchandise, according to the warrants.
Lt. Scott Ware said seven others may be
involved in those specific cases.
Stephens’ public defender Chris van Rossem
declined to comment Tuesday.
The businesses affected were the Mount Ver
non Market on Mount Vernon Road, the Stop-By
convenience store on Cleveland Highway and
the Clermont Food Mart on Cleveland Highway.
Mount Vernon Market owner Minesh Patel
took over the business the month after the bur
glary. He said the front door, safe and electron
ics in the store were damaged.
No one answered the phone at Clermont
Food Mart on Tuesday, and a message seeking
comment from Stop-By was not returned.
Investigators obtained warrants in July 2017
for the nine suspects in the eight total smash-
and-grab burglaries reported between May and
October 2016 in Hall.
“Everyone else has warrants, but if I recall
correctly, they are locked up in other counties
at the moment,” Ware said Tuesday, Oct. 30.
He could not confirm where any of the other
suspects are being held. Ware could confirm
that one of the suspects, Mario Pass, of Atlanta,
was arrested on Oct. 5,2017.
“In each case they caused in excess of $500
worth of damage to the stores and stole merchan
dise once inside,” Ware wrote in a news release.
Ware did not have information on total dam
age and property loss in Hall or what merchan
dise was stolen.
40901
06835
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