About The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2023)
The Braselton News Page 5A Wednesday, February 22, 2023 Area feature Braselton hospital employee owns near-40-year-old horse Photo by Ben Munro Pamela Whitmire poses for a photo with her quarter horse, Lady, who will turn 40 on Monday (Feb. 27). By Ben Munro ben@mainstreetnews. com Pamela Whitmire spent last week figuring out how to make a birthday cake — for a horse. But it's very much a mo ment worth commemorating with a treat. On Monday (Feb. 27). Whitmire's “Lady” will turn 40. a rarity for a horse. When Whitmire bought Lady 24 years ago, the Northeast Georgia Medical Center-Braselton employee figured she’d have the then- 16-year-old red-haired quar ter horse for maybe 10 years. At nearly 40 — paperwork through the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) verifies her age — Lady is the second longest-living horse in memory in the AQHA (the oldest was 42). “She’s like an Energizer Bunny,” said Whitmire, an NGMC-Braselton employee since it opened in 2015. Lady has outlived three of the four babies she gave birth to under Whitmire's own ership. Whitmire's Jeffer- son-area neighbor and fellow horse enthusiast. Lynn Smith, said most owners will lose their horses between ages 20-28. She attributes Lady’s breed as a significant factor in her long life. “She comes from stoic bloodlines,” said Smith, who described herself as Lady’s “surrogate aunt.” “She’s stoic. She's not sensitive. It’s defi nitely, I’d say, the breeding and her good life here.” Not only is Lady about to be 40, she’ll be a healthy 40. Lady still eats well and main tains a solid weight, while other old horses tend to be come emaciated. “That's the first thing that goes; they can’t digest food.” Smith said, “but Lady looks dam good for her age.” Whitmire said she acquired Lady over two decades ago simply because she wanted horses. Knowing nothing about them, she and her hus band purchased a farm on Mauldin Rd. near Jefferson, and she poured through any information she found on raising horses. “I bought every book I could possibly find and read every book,” Whitmire said. ‘That was before the inter net.” They then bought Lady and her three-week-old foal because Whitmire wanted a horse-and-baby pair. Lady and her foal were the first of what would become a 16-horse farm for the Whit mires. Lady is the only re maining horse there. Whit mire described Lady as the “boss.” “She was the smallest one that I had — the small est mare — and she was the boss,” Whitmire said. “She was the boss of everything. She was the boss mare.” Lady's full name on her AQHA papers is “Feisty’s Lady,” and she reportedly lives up to it. Whitmire re calls when Lady once kicked through metal, cutting her to the bone. The wound took a vet extensive time to sew up. “Nobody messed with her,” Whitmire said. ‘They knew better.” Lady is still feisty, as she’ll come running across the Whitmires’ pasture to the bam area whenever she hears a slamming gate. “You would never know that horse is that old.” Whit mire said. Lady no longer eats hay, however, due to her age and some lost teeth. So, Whit mire feeds her mush, joking that she goes through “a lot of groceries.” Whitmire, who schedules cardiovascular test ing in her job at NGMC-Bra- selton, used to ride Lady reg ularly but hasn’t done so in about 15 years. “I just got old, and it hurts when you fall off,” Whitmire said with a laugh. Whitmire said Lady will be her last horse. She and her husband plan to move to Kentucky at some point but will remain on their Jefferson farm for the remainder of La dy's life. “She was a good mother, a good mama,” Whitmire said, reflecting on her horse's long life. “And she took care of her babies, and she loved her ba bies.” As for Lady’s birthday, Whitmire ended up molding Lady's mush into a circular shape and placing a “40” can dle on top of it. Lady’s 40th birthday Monday will be something of an occasion on Maul din Rd. with several of the Whitmires' friends set to drop by to visit this still- feisty mare. State attorney general Eight indicted in Gwinnett after human trafficking, gang investigation Attorney General Chris Carr announced Thursday (Feb. 16) the indictment of eight alleged members of the LOTTO gang in Gwinnett County following a ma jor investigation conducted by the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office Special Investigations Section. According to a press release from Carr's office, the eight de fendants are facing a range of charges, including trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, violation of the Street Gang Ter rorism and Prevention Act, con spiracy to Violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organiza tions Act, aggravated assault and kidnapping. The defendants are alleged to have engaged in the trafficking of five female victims, including one minor, to further their crim inal enterprise. The defendants are also alleged to have recruit ed others to join LOTTO. This case will be jointly prosecuted by the attorney general's Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit and his new Gang Prosecution Unit, which officially began its work on July 1,2022. The Attorney General’s Human Trafficking and Gang Prosecution Units presented evidence to a Gwinnett County grand jury, re sulting in the indictment of the fol lowing eight defendants on Feb. 8: •Sean Aaron Curry (also known as Jaak), 33, Gwinnett County •Sean Patrick Harvey (also known as Shootah), age 35, Gwinnett County •Eric Duane Johnson (also known as EJ), age 46, DeKalb County •Jadah Marie Henry, age 20, Gwinnett County •Tyreek Raysheen Lee (also known as Reek), age 26, Monroe County •Bobby Jamaine Downing (also known as Kahlil), age 41, DeKalb County •Hilton Lance Dobbins (also known as Sporty), age 33, Fulton County •Jayda Veronica Wilson (also known as Thump), age 25, Gwin nett County Along with racketeering, seven of the eight defendants are also facing additional charges. Curry, Harvey and Johnson are alleged to have engaged in crimi nal activity while occupying a po sition of leadership with regard to LOTTO. The three defendants are therefore facing charges specific to this allegation. Curry and Harvey are further alleged to have encouraged an other to become an associate of LOTTO. The two defendants are therefore facing charges specific to this allegation. Braselton Public hearing related to Dell Webb at Chateau Elan expansion ahead The Braselton Planning Com mission will hold a public hear ing Feb. 27 (6 p.m.) related to plans for expansion of Del Webb at Chateau Elan. The applicant, PulteGroup, seeks planned unit develop ment (PUD) amendments from the original master plan, which called for a continuation of Cha teau Elan. These would now be separate neighborhoods and would not connect. With this project, Pulte also seeks to annex and rezone to PUD 14.61 acres in Gwinnett County on Duncan Creek Rd. into town as part of Del Webb at Chateau Elan. It will develop 28 homes on this tract. The annex ation tract will connect existing Del Webb at Chateau Elan with two other tracts, already with in the town limits, where 255 homes will be developed. Additionally, a separate res idential development of John Wieland homes — situated next to three holes on the Chateau Elan Woodlands Golf Course — is proposed for 62 lots. According to documents sub mitted by Pulte, the requested amendments to the PUD include eliminating road connections into Chateau Elan neighbor hoods and layout changes to the homes. The Braselton Town Council will hold a separate public hear ing on these items on March 9 at 4:30 p.m. Election continued from 1A to 5 p.m. at the Ponchie Beck ing will be held from 8-5 p.m. Election Center, located at 441 at the Barrow County Elections Gordon St., Jefferson. Office at 233 East Broad St., In Barrow County, early vot- Winder. Districts continued from 1A that the council had not decid ed on its recommendation for legislation. “We're still in the works on the recommendation for dis tricting,” he said. “We are still talking that out ... What the final recommendation to our state is going to be. we still have not decided whether there will be a recommendation or actually just not do it at all.” The council’s recommenda tion. if it makes one. will not require a vote. Sen. Frank Ginn would sponsor the legislation on the city’s behalf should it move forward. The state’s general assem bly executive office drew the proposed city council districts based on population density using data from the 2020 cen sus. It submitted both two-dis trict and three-district options to the city. At the work session. Car- swell said the potential change would ensure all parts of town have representation on the council. He said the council has discussed districting pub licly since 2021. Carswell noted that at one time, four Hoschton council members lived in the same four-block area of town. “If without a district, every body’s on one street,” Carswell said. “What about everybody on the other side of town? They have no representation whatsoever. I don’t think that's fair. I know it's not fair, quite honestly.” The consideration of council districts comes as the southern portion of the city, with the large Cresswind and Twin Lakes subdivisions, is project ed to grow by 7,000 residents before 2030. The proposed council dis tricts proved unpopular with residents who attended the Feb. 16 meeting, particularly those who live in the Cress- wind neighborhood. Six resi dents. four living in Cresswind, spoke against the proposed legislation at the council meet ing. The Cresswind-Twin Lakes segment of town, located in proposed District 3 in the three-district model, would represent a large majority of the city’s population in a few years. But it would only have two council members under the proposed format. “It really doesn’t seem like you’re getting the equal rep resentation that is the goal of drawing the districts,” said resident Christina Brown, who resides on Quail Run, which would be assigned to District 3 in the three-model system. Cresswind resident Mike Cope offered a similar opinion. “Those 7,000 people are going to be underrepresented with only two representatives,” he said, suggesting District 3 should have at least three rep resentatives. Other complaints of district ing included a need for more public opinion in the process. “Have you asked the cit izens via poll that you rep resent?” Cresswind resident Scott Quarter asked. Quarter favored the at-large system, arguing that the most qualified candidates should serve on the council regardless of location. “Does it really matter where you live, or is it the best per son for that seat? That's the question I have for all of you,” Quarter said. If Hoschton’s council dis tricts are approved, they’ll be subject to change in seven years. Under Georgia law, council districts must be up dated after each census. The next census count will be held in 2030. WATER LINE IM PROVEMENTS The city council approved a bid of just over $1 million from Dirt Work Grading and Construction, Inc., to run a 12- inch line (most city lines are four, six or eight inches ) from Broad St. downtown to White St. to Industrial Blvd. to Hwy. 53 down to Jopena Blvd. on the south end of town. The city has $814,000 in grant money to apply to the project, which will likely finish in the fall of 2024. The water line will improve water pressure and flow to the Cresswind and Twin Lakes neighborhoods on the south side. The bid was under bud get, with the city allotting $1.2 million for the project. The new line is part of a comprehensive upgrade of the city's water system, including distribution, storage and sup ply. OTHER BUSINESS •held a first reading of a lengthy update of the city’s alcohol beverage ordinance to reflect state codes. •approved Cole Hudgens, Jennifer Landers. Christine Moody, Ray Vaughn. Sean Stephan, Minton O'Neal, Christina Brown and Tammy Sweat as members of the city’s eight-member impact fee advi sory committee. The commit tee, comprising developers, re altors and residents, will meet once and submit proposed changes to the council. The city is amending its impact fees following a lawsuit from Kolter Homes, which is devel oping the Cresswind and Twin Lakes subdivisions. •renewed lease agreements with Woodmen of America and Piedmont Injury Mas sage at city-owned property on Hwy. 53. The spaces are located within the city's police station complex. The city signs one-year leases should the po lice department need to expand into those spaces. Victim continued from 1A in a hospital bed.” According to a Braselton police report, an officer arrived at the scene and saw Moore lying in the turning lane of the intersection, where Hall County fire and rescue person nel tended to him. Emergency medical personnel transported Moore to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville with non-life-threatening inju ries. SEARCHING FOR INFORMATION According to Braselton Po lice Major Michael Steffman, the officer who investigated the accident checked nearby businesses for cameras that might have recorded the crash, but none had footage. In the following days, a criminal investigations detective can vassed the area but found no additional information. “Either the cameras were inoperable or not facing the direction of the intersection,” Steffman wrote in an email, “and the Georgia DOT camera that is at the intersection does not record.” Steffman said the depart ment continues to search for witnesses to the accident. He asks anyone with information to contact the Braselton Po lice Department at police @ braselton.net or call 706-658- 2852 or the department's tip line at 404-308-7974. According to Moore’s aunt, the family plans to post banners at the intersection in hopes of finding the driver who struck Moore or to help provide information to Bra selton police in its investiga tion. She wrote that Moore had been walking to work because he was saving up for expensive car repairs. “My family and I have offered to Uber him. and he has declined, saying he didn’t mind walking,” Christina Moore wrote. “He's just an old soul, a really good human and a responsible kid that did not deserve this. We want to start this for him in hopes it will help him in some small way. “Thanks to anyone who feels inclined to donate, share and pray for my nephew. I be lieve we will find the person who did this.” To donate to Moore’s cam paign, visit https://www. gofundme.com/f/21 -year- old-bryson-hit-and-run- victim?utm_medium=re- ferral&utm_source=un- known&utm_cam- paign=comms_gfm+21 -year- old-bryson-hit-and-run-victim. HELP WANTED! Financial Manager Braselton, GA. Required: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or Economics & 2 years of managerial experience in accounting or finance. Mail resume to: Duckyang America, Inc., 984 Broadway Ave., Braselton, GA 30517.
