Newspaper Page Text
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson 500 copy
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Vol. 10 No. 30 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Braselton Fourth of July celebration brings crowd
Braselton celebrates July Fourth
A spectacular fireworks display lit up the night sky as Braselton celebrated Independence Day with a
festival on the town green Saturday. Photos by Wesleigh Sagon
Celebrates first
time in America
Ashton Levry, Dominique
Dong, and Michele Levry
celebrated the Fourth of
July on Braselton’s town
green Saturday evening.
Dong is from Dubai and
visited the United States
for the first time to visit
her mother and sister.
Dong has not seen her
mother for 25 years and
has not seen her sister
since she was born.
Dong is a marketing
executive in Dubai.
Dressed for
occasion
Khloe Thomas, 15
months, celebrated
the Fourth of July in
Braselton Saturday
afternoon.
Friends wear matching suits
Kaleb Garrison and Ethan Toms wore matching
patriotic suits as they celebrated July Fourth in
Braselton Saturday evening.
Play with sparklers
Olivia Dominican, 7, danced with her sparkler
during Braselton’s Fourth of July Festival on the
town green Saturday evening.
Plays with soapy suds
Madi Grace Underwood, 6, blew bubbles in her
face during Braselton’s Independence Day cele
bration Saturday afternoon.
Veteran celebrates July 4
Mike Parr celebrated Independence Day in
Braselton Saturday. Parr is a veteran who was
stationed in Germany from 1970 through 1973. He
served as a Spc 4 in the Army.
Area moves
out of drought
There's been no shortage of rain in recent weeks in Bra
selton. That precipitation has helped ease drought condi
tions in the area and across the state.
According to the United States Drought Monitor released
June 29, Jackson, Barrow, Gwinnett and Hall counties have
moved out of drought status.
Just three months ago, the area was in a “severe drought.”
At this time last year, parts of Jackson County were in an
“extreme drought.”
Rainfall has also eased conditions throughout the state.
Over 75 percent of the state has moved out of drought status
(up from 70 percent last week and 51 percent this time last
year).
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Interstate
By Alex Pace
Plans to widen Interstate 85 recent
ly got formal approval from two state
boards.
The Georgia Department of Trans
portation and State Road and Tollway
Authority boards approved a joint
resolution for the project in mid-June.
The GDOT plans to add one lane to
widening
a 24-mile stretch of 1-85 in Gwinnett,
Barrow and Jackson counties. Two
phases are planned for the project
(from Hamilton Mill Road to SR 211;
and from SR 211 to US 129).
The second phase isn’t set to start
until 2024 and will widen 11.3 miles
from S.R. 211 toU.S. 129.
“This is a long range project and
gets nod
doesn't have a scheduled date to
receive bids from contractors yet.”
said Katie Strickland, GDOT com
munications officer.
No exact date is set for the project
completion, but it could take between
2-3 years.
The additions will be general travel
lanes (not express lanes).
Where is Jackson County’s workforce?
By Alex Pace
“Help Wanted” signs are popping
up in Jackson County as new ware
houses open for business. Still, more
people leave the county for work
each day than come in.
The Jackson County Board of Com
missioners discussed workforce and
industry issues at its recent retreat.
Over 18,200 Jackson County res
idents leave the county each day
for work, while 14,300 out-of-county
residents commute in. Only 6,100
both live and work in the county.
Board chairman Tom Crow said it’s
a slow transition to internally build
the workforce.
“The 18.000 (people), they got
those jobs before we had any,” he
said. “And they're not ready to give
them up because they’ve got several
years of seniority built up.”
Jim Dove, executive director of the
Northeast Georgia Regional Com
mission. said the county’s location
may be a contributing factor as res
idents can commute to metro-Atlan-
ta, Athens. Gainesville and Banks
Crossing.
Barrow and Gwinnett counties both
see something similar.
In Barrow County, over 27,000 res
idents commute out of the county
for work, while almost 15,000 out-
of-county residents commute in. A
little over 5,000 both live and work in
Barrow County.
In Gwinnett County, over 204,000
residents commute out of the county
for work while over 182.000 out-of-
county residents commute in. Over
128,000 both live and work in Gwin
nett County.
Hall County, however, has more
people who commute in each day
than leave the county for work.
Over 39,000 out-of-county resi
dents commute into Hall County,
while over 38,000 county residents
work somewhere outside the county.
Over 31,000 both live and work in
Hall County.
OTHER ISSUES IN
JACKSON COUNTY
Dove also referenced nearby coun
ties that have hundreds of available
jobs “if people would take them.”
“We have a lot of those here in the
county also.” said Crow.
It’s not clear why those jobs remain
unfilled, but the group cited unquali
fied workers and people “who don't
want to work,” in addition to the
traveling workforce.
Auditor Beth Grimes said near
by Hall County is dealing with the
prescription pill and drag epidemic
that affects the workforce “because
people can't pass drug tests.” That
impacts healthcare and courts in the
area and hurts the workforce, Grimes
said.
“It's an issue in Jackson County,”
said county manager Kevin Poe.