O
o
THE
ACKSON
H Wednesday, February 8, 2023
ERALD
VOL. 148 NO. 35
20 PACES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
Merged in 2017 with
The Commerce News
A PUBLICATION OF MainStreet Newspapers, Inc.
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Election
Runoff set
Feb. 28
for House
District 119
A runoff will be held
Tuesday, Feb. 28. to fill the
House District 119 seat.
Charlie Chase and Holt
Persinger, both Republi
cans, are vying for the seat.
The House District 119
seat was vacated by Rep.
Elect Danny Rampey fol
lowing his arrest in Barrow
County. House District 119
covers Barrow County and
a small portion of Jackson
County in the Braselton and
Hoschton area.
A special election was
held Jan. 31 between sev
en candidates. None of the
candidates secured 50% of
the vote, forcing the Feb. 28
runoff election.
Chase and Persinger
were the top two vote-get
ters in the special election.
Persinger took 27.9% of
the vote, while Chase took
25.48% of the vote.
Details about early vot
ing, absentee ballots and
Election Day voting in
clude:
• Early voting: Early
voting for the runoff elec
tion 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. Early voting will
be held at the Ponchie Beck
Election Center, located at
441 Gordon St.. Jefferson.
•Absentee ballots: Ab
sentee ballot applications
may be requested through
Feb. 17. A drop box will
be available for absentee
ballots at the Ponchie Beck
Election Center (located in
side) during all early voting
hours and will close on Feb
ruary 24 at 5 p.m. On Elec
tion Day, absentee ballots
may be dropped off until
February 28 at 7 p.m. to the
election staff located at 441
Gordon Street in Jefferson.
Absentee ballots will not be
received at the polling loca
tion on Election Day.
•Election Day: Jackson
County residents who live
in House District 119 can
cast their votes on Election
Day at the Braselton Police
and Municipal Court Build
ing on Tuesday. Feb. 28,
from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
MAILING LABEL
County, Jefferson
Jefferson asks for help with commercial development road
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews. com
Jefferson leaders are
asking the county govern
ment to help fund a new
road in the city that would
open up around 200 acres
for additional commercial
development.
The City of Jefferson has
asked the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
and the Jackson County
Industrial Development
Authority to amend the list
of approved projects from
the county’s economic
development bond funds
to include the Jefferson
“gateway road” project.
The road has been talk
ed about for several years
and will run from the new
Publix shopping center on
Old Pendergrass Rd. at
Hwy. 129 to Holder Siding
Rd. The road is designed to
alleviate traffic around the
new Publix shopping cen
ter and Old Pendergrass
Rd.
In a presentation on Feb.
6 to the BOC, Jefferson
city manager Pricilla Mur
phy outlined the history of
the project, which is rooted
in a previous controversy
about plans for a WalMart
to be located at that inter
section. That plan drew a
lot of community ire over
traffic-related concerns
and the connecting road
grew out of that debate.
Murphy said that be
cause of complications in
crossing over a railroad
track, the cost of the proj-
Nicholson Fire
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Some of the early leaders of the Nicholson Volunteer Fire Department which
was created 50 years ago. Shown are (L to R): Robert Potts, Jim Bulla, How
ard Wilbanks, and Hayden David.
Nicholson Fire celebrates
50 years of service
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These were some of the early firetrucks used by
the Nicholson Volunteer Fire Department.
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews. com
When the old Ben
ton School in Nicholson
burned down from an arson
fire in February 1972, area
citizens could only stand
by and watch. There wasn’t
a fire department in the
Nicholson area at the time,
so the building, which had
been built by the Depres
sion Era WPA program in
the 1930s, was destroyed.
But from the ashes of
that fire 50 years ago came
a move to create a Nich
olson area fire response
system and in December
1972. the Nicholson Vol
unteer Fire Department
was officially created. Lat
er, in 1984, the Nicholson
Fire District was created as
a way to help fund the de
partment’s operations.
As department leaders
recently looked back on
the department’s 50 years,
they noted just how far
the department had come
from its early beginnings.
The department began with
seven people and one fire
truck. Charlie Smith was
elected as the department’s
first fire chief.
Today, the department
has multiple fire trucks (3).
several tankers and support
vehicles spread over two
locations — the main fire
house in the town of Nich
olson and a second facility
located further south in the
unincorporated community
of Center. A new fire truck
See Nicholson, page 2A
Index
Opinion
Public safety
4A
6A-7A
Social news
8A, 12A
Sports
1B-3B
Classifieds
9A
Obituaries
10A-11A
Legals
4B-7B
School
8B
Inside
West Jackson
community mem
bers held a special
5K for a coach
who works in the
Jackson County
School System.
See page 8A.
Related: New Publix opens in
Jefferson, groundbreaking held for
Chick-fil-A. See page 2A.
ect was more than antici
pated.
“It’s a lot more than we
thought it would be,” she
said.
The property owner.
Loggins Development
Corporation, donated the
right-of-way for the road
and also agreed to put in
$500,000 toward the proj
ect.
The economic develop
ment bond fund was cre
ated around 15 years ago
by the BOC and IDA as a
See BOC, page 2A
Public safety
Suspect named in
murder case after
man’s body found
in Jefferson
Authorities have released the name of the suspect
in the death of a Hall County man whose body was
found in Jefferson in January. Willie Tremaine Nik-
holas Evans, 27, of Winder, faces charges of malice
murder, aggravated assault and possession of a fire
arm by a convicted felon.
The body of Joshua Wick, 19, of Hall County,
was found on Holder Siding Road between Benton
Road and Long Farm Road in Jefferson on Jan. 20
around 6 p.m.
Officials said the death was not due to an accident
and that they don’t believe Wick died at the scene
where his body was discovered.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation was called
to a scene by the Jefferson Police Department. The
investigation is ongoing.
Evans was previously acquitted of murder in a
shooting incident in Athens-Clarke County, accord
ing to the Athens Banner-Herald. The Banner-Her
ald reported that Evans was acquitted in the 2019
murder of David Lee Burnett, 51, who was shot and
killed at University Oaks apartments.
Hoschton
Ledbetter resigns from
Hoschton City Council
First-term Hoschton
City Councilman Adam
Ledbetter has resigned
from his post, effective
Feb. 2.
Ledbetter, elected in
2019. said he’s stepping
down to devote more
time to his son’s medical
care.
“It’s time for me to fo
cus more on my family
and my son’s upcom
ing kidney transplant,”
Ledbetter wrote in an
email to Mainstreet
Newspapers. “The past
three years. I could not
be more proud of our
city’s progress. Our city
is in great hands with
(City Manager) Jenni
fer Kidd-Harrison at the
wheel. May God bless
our city now and in the
future.”
Ledbetter served on
the council during one of
its most trying times. In
early 2020. he was one
of only two members
left on the council fol
lowing multiple council
member resignations.
The lack of a quorum
made the council inoper
able for several months.
See Ledbetter, page 2A
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