Newspaper Page Text
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.
