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Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Vol. 16 No. 10 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Eleven Panther
wrestlers headed to state
The Jackson County wrestling program will send 11 wrestlers to the
state tournament this week fol lowing a big showing at sectionals.
PAGE 10A
Photos
See more pictures from the father-daughter dance held at
the Braselton Civic Center
PAGE 7A
Special election
Early voting begins
Monday for State
House 119 runoff
Early voting begins Mon
day (Feb. 20) in a special
election runoff between Re
publicans Charlie Chase and
Holt Persinger for Georgia
House Seat 119. District 119
covers Barrow County and a
portion of Jackson County in
the Braselton-Hoschton area.
JACKSON CO.
•Early voting: Early vot
ing for the runoff election
for Jackson County residents
who live in House District
119 will be held Monday,
Feb. 20, through Friday, Feb.
24, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ear
ly voting will be held at the
Ponchie Beck Election Cen
ter, located at 441 Gordon
St., Jefferson.
•Absentee ballots: Absen
tee ballot applications may
be requested through Feb. 17.
A drop box will be available
for absentee ballots at the
Ponchie Beck Election Cen
ter (located inside ) during all
early voting hours and will
close on Feb. 24 at 5 p.m.
On Election Day, absentee
ballots may be dropped off
until Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. to the
election staff located at 441
See Runoff, page 2A
Braselton
Braselton DDA spots
remain unfilled
following tabled vote
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Decisions on two open
spots on Braselton’s
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA) will wait
at least another month.
For the second-straight
voting session, the Bra
selton Town Council ta
bled action to fill two emp
ty DDA seats with a 5-0
vote on Monday (Feb. 13).
This latest postponement
came after Mayor Kurt
Ward added himself to the
pool of DDA candidates.
“Our DDA is currently
comprised of five people
that have business inter
ests in Braselton but are
not residents of the Town
of Braselton,” Ward said
during the council's Feb.
9 work session before sub
mitting himself as a candi
date.
The DDA nominated
See Nominations, page 2A
INDEX
News
1-3A
Opinion
4A
Public safety
5A
School
6A
Social
7A
Obituaries
8A-9A
Sports
10A
Classifieds
11A
Council discusses
plan for Braselton
grist mill
PAGE 7A
Making memories
Photo by Ben Munro
Ava Jackson, of Buford, gets ready to dance with her father, Jason, during Saturday night’s fa
ther-daughter dance at the Braselton Civic Center.
Charter schools
West Jackson
A national organization
wants to open a charter school
at the old West Jackson Prima
ry School site, and town lead
ers will decide if they want to
serve as its landlords.
National Heritage Acade
mies (NHA) proposes to re
model, use and maintain the
aging Hwy. 53 building for a
K-8 charter school, starting as
a K-5 in August 2024, with
See Proposal, page 12A
Photo by Ben Munro
Jeff Chamberlain of National Heritage Acade
mies addresses the Braselton town leaders on
Thursday (Feb. 9).
Braselton Town Council
mulling proposal from
charter school group
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
BOE
names new
elementary
school
The Jackson County
School System announced
Monday the system’s newest
elementary school, slated to
open in August 2024, will be
named “Heroes Elementary
School.”
The Jackson County
Board of Education voted to
name the school as a way to
honor the heroes who rise to
the occasion on a daily basis
to keep the Jackson County
community and the nation
See School, page 7A
MAILING LABEL
SPECIAL ELECTION RUNOFF -GEORGIA HOUSE SEAT 119
MEET THE CANDIDATES
Charlie Chase (Republican)
Holt Persinger (Republican)
•Please give a brief bio
of yourself.
I am Charlie Chase, a
military veteran, husband,
father, Master Mason and a
proud Republican who has
been serving my commu
nity for most of my adult
life. I am a small business
owner who understands
what inflation, caused by
the Biden Administration,
is doing to every work
ing person in Georgia. I
am a Bail Bondsman and
Bail Recovery Agent who
works closely with law en
forcement, so I know that
releasing criminals back
into our community with
nothing more than their
signature on a piece of
paper will cause crime to
rise as it has done in other
states. I’m a landlord, so
I know that rising proper
ty taxes and government
See Chase, page 3A
•Please give a brief bio
of yourself.
I am a man of faith, a
rock-solid conservative,
and a small businessman.
I worked my way through
junior college and ulti
mately graduated from the
University of Georgia. I
started my business from
scratch right before the
tough times in the “Great
Recession.” Through
prayer and hard work, we
weathered that storm and
have a successful business
today. My wife Jennie
works in administration
for the Barrow County
School System and we
are both proud to serve
our community through
numerous volunteer roles.
I currently serve on the
Barrow-Braselton JDA
and the Winder Historic
Preservation Committee
See Persinger, page 3A
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