About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 2022)
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy Wednesday, December 7, 2022 Vol. 15 No. 52 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages Panther power The Jackson County wrestling team won the Panther Invitational over the weeking, finishing in first place by 40 points. PAGE10A ‘Annie’ at JCHS The JCHS theater club recently wrapped-up a three-show run of 'Annie' PAGE 6A A meeting with Santa South Hall Completion of Phase I of Spout Springs Rd. project pushed back to Jan. By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews.com Completion of the first phase of a road-widening project on Spout Springs Rd. isn’t expected until late January now, according to a Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) offi cial. The project has widened Spout Springs Rd. — which connects Flowery Branch to Braselton in South Hall — to four lanes from 1-985 to Union Circle to relieve congestion. But “finishing work” remains, according to District 1 DOT commu nications officer Elizabeth Johnson. “Finishing work is taking place and has been impact ed by a couple of factors,” Johnson said in an email last week. According to Johnson, a supply chain issue with storm drains, along with the relocation of power poles See Road, page 3A Corbin Fortner, 4, tells Santa Claus his Christmas wishlist Saturday (Dec. 3) at the Hoschton depot. The Hoschton Women’s Civic Club hosted Santa for the first time in three years. The event was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID. Hoschton Hoschton leaders to consider $4.82M budget INSIDE See the winter edition of Braselton TODAY INDEX News 1-3A Opinion 4A Public safety 5A Social/School 6A Classifieds 7A Obituaries 8A-9A Sports 12A The Hoschton City Council is mulling a pro posed $4.82 million gen eral fund budget for 2023, up 56.7 percent from the city’s 2022 spending plan. The bulk of the poten tial increase comes in public works where the city proposes $1,125 mil lion more in spending (to taling nearly $1.42 mil lion) in 2023. The jump is largely due to a new public works building on The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office recently played a role in solving the identity of a murder victim in Virginia. The remains of an un identified woman were found in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1993. The case had gone unsolved Cabin Dr. and road repair and maintenance proj ects, according to Interim City Manager Jennifer Kidd-Harrison. Kidd-Harrison said the city’s engineer is at work compiling a list of roads with the highest priority for repairs. “We’re behind on some of the road repairs, so that’s going to be a big focus for next year,” she said. since that time until a pri vate firm was able to find a cousin of the victim through DNA testing. From that, detectives from Fairfax County con tacted the Jackson Coun ty Sheriff’s Office in an effort to locate a woman in Jackson County who The proposed 2023 general fund budget will be partially funded by a projected $750,000 in tax revenue from a recent ly-approved city property tax. The city also expects a $630,000 increase in building and sign permit fee revenue (for a total of $2.38 million), up 36% from 2022. The city proposes a appeared to be a close rel ative of the unidentified murder victim. The JCSO did locate the woman and asked her to call the Fair fax Virginia detective. From that, the children of the victim were located See JCSO, page 5A See Budget, page 2A Jackson County Sheriff’s Office JCSO plays role in ID of Virginia murder victim Photo by Ben Munro Completion of first phase of the Spout Springs Rd. widening project in South Hall is now expected in late January. Hall County Gainesville teen charged with breaking into home, assaulting three females A Gainesville 17-year-old has been charged with break ing into a residence on Thomp son Bridge Rd. Friday, Dec. 2. and assaulting three female victims inside the home, ac cording to a press release from the Hall County Sheriff’s Of fice (HCSO). Sheriff’s office investigators say Joseph Salazar illegal ly entered the residence just before 11 p.m. Friday while the victims were sleeping. According to arrest warrants, Salazar made physical contact with the intimate body parts of two of the victims. The suspect also grabbed the third victim during the incident. Deputies responded to a 911 call from the residence, and they were See Assault, page 5A MAILING LABEL O Braselton Braselton library addition likely to be ready by April By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Braselton’s library exten sion should be complete by April, adding 8,166 more square feet to the facility. The construction timeline is slightly off track from the original March completion projection due to inclem ent weather days, according to Town Manager Jennifer Scott. The $4.1 million project, which began in late June, is roughly 60% complete. The town has only experienced minor supply issues during construction, according to Scott. “We had some things that took longer, but it wasn’t something we couldn’t get,” she said. “And there’s been some things where we’ve had to find an alternate, but that’s it.” When complete, the two-story addition will house a children’s wing and study rooms and allow for more circulation materials and See Library, page 2A o Photo by Ben Munro An 8,166-square-foot addition to the Braselton library is expected to be complete by April.
