Newspaper Page Text
o
o
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Vol. 15 No. 50 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
More parade photos
See more photos of Braselton's annual Christmas parade through
downtwon. Additional photos are available on the Braselton News
Facebook page
PAGE 3A
Chateau wine
wins award
A Chateau Elan wine was a recent
winner in the 13th Annual Made in the
South Awards PAGE 10A
Braselton
Subdivision again
proposed on Hwy.
53 and New Cut Rd.,
hearing postponed
A public hearing over a new
proposal for a 200-plus-home
subdivision on tract of land at
Hwy. 53 and New Cut Rd. is on
hold.
A hearing before the Bra
selton Planning Commission
was scheduled for Nov. 28, but
it has been pushed back to Feb
ruary.
The applicant, Abernathy
Development Company, seeks
to annex and rezone 91.6 acres
at the location from agricultural
(A-2) to residential (R-3) for a
development of 214 detached
single-family lots.
In August, the town council
voted unanimously to deny an
annexation and rezoning for this
property to build a 246-lot sub
division. A number of residents
See Subdivision, page 3A
Hoschton
Hoschton DDA
members meet with
Piedmont about library
Holiday wonder
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Hoschton downtown leaders
are taking the initial steps in an
initiative they hope yields a city
public library in a few years.
According to downtown de
velopment authority (DDA)
chairman Sri Kumar, DDA
officials recently talked with
representatives of the Piedmont
Regional Library System about
the process of opening and oper
ating a library.
He said the project would
cost approximately $2 million
for a 20,000-square-foot facili
ty — if the city already has land
— and cost $200,000-$250,000
See Library, page 2A
Santa to appear at Hoschton Depot Dec. 3
Santa Claus will make a stop
at the Hoschton Depot on Dec.
3 at 10 a.m. The event is hosted
by the Hoschton Women's Civic
Club.
Santa will arrive on his
firetruck sleigh at 10 a.m. to pose
for photos with children and to
hand out gift bags.
This is the first year the event
has been held since 2019 due to
COVID. "We are so excited to
bring it back this year," organizers
said.
INDEX
News... 1-
3A, 6A
Opinion ...
4A
Public safety
... 5A
Classifieds ..
7A
/gsr
Obituaries ...
8A
Sports ..
9A
AA :
BUFFINGTON :Thanksgiving, the
story behind the story
PAGE 4A
MAILING LABEL
Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
Children played in the faux snow that blasted from Jackson EMC’s float during Braselton’s annual
holiday parade. The business was recognized as the float with the most holiday spirit.
Economy
Hall Co. totaling over
half a billion in capital
investment in 2022
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
The Gainesville-Hall County metro
area has generated $550 million in capital
investment in 2022 as it continues to be a
hotspot for manufacturing facilities and
company headquarter loca
tions.
Last year, Site Selection
Magazine named Gaines-
ville-Hall County one of the
nation's top small metros
for job creation and invest
ment. Meanwhile, Forbes
Magazine has rated Gaines-
ville-Hall County as one of
the “Best Small Places for
Business & Careers’’ eight
years running.
Tim Evans, vice president of economic
development for the Greater Hall Cham
ber of Commerce, pointed to a very di
verse base of advanced manufacturing.
“It’s because of our advanced manu
facturing primarily that we have so much
capital investment and the quality of the
jobs,” Evans said. “Companies are looking
for highly-skilled employees to be able
to maintain automation levels in their ad
vanced manufacturing and
food processing.”
That diverse base includes
automotive, life sciences
and equipment Evans not
ed that Gainesville-Hall is
home to 330 manufactur
ers and processors, serval
of which who have located
their North American head
quarters in Hall County. He
said the Gainesville-Hall ar
ea’s strength lies in recruiting a
highly-skilled workforce to fill the demand
for production and executive jobs.
“We excel and doing both, and that’s
See Investment, page 2A
Law enforcement
More details
emerge about
comic book
author’s arrest
Additional details have
emerged from noted Canadian
comic book author Body Ngoy’s
arrest in Braselton for child cru
elty.
Ngoy allegedly touched a teen
inappropriately while in town for
a wedding at Chateau Elan on
Nov. 12. According to an arrest
report filed by Braselton police,
Ngoy leaned over a 16-year-old
female laying on a hotel couch
and asked if he could kiss her
“Spiderman style.” The female
said she told him no. but Ngoy
kissed her anyway, according to
the report.
According to the report, video
See Arrest, page 6A
EVANS
Hall County Sheriff’s Office
Braselton woman accused of
stealing $100K from elderly couple
A Braselton woman has
been arrested on charges of
felony financial exploita
tion of an elderly person
after investigators deter
mined she stole more than
$100,000 from a couple
in her care, according to a
Hall County Sheriff’s Of
fice (HCSO) press release.
HCSO investigators said
Hailey Starr Mauldin. 28,
was acting as an in-home
caregiver for a 68-year-old
Barrow County woman
who had health issues.
Mauldin befriended the
woman and her husband,
and eventually she was
able to assume the role of
the woman’s power of at
torney.
According to investiga
tors, Mauldin had known
the victims for a couple
of years, but the alleged
thefts occurred in 2022.
They said Mauldin con
vinced the couple to sell
their home in Barrow
County and moved the vic
tims to Hall County into
a residence she told them
was lease-to-own; in fact,
Mauldin had only rented
the home. Evidence un
covered in the case also
shows Mauldin gained ac
cess to a bank account be
longing to the couple and
used their money for per
sonal purchases. Addition
ally, she obtained a loan in
the female victim’s name
and leased a vehicle in the
male victim’s name.
A relative of the male
victim alerted law enforce
ment to the criminal activ
ity.
Mauldin was arrested by
HCSO investigators.
‘0 4 8 7 9
1 4 5 4 0
