Newspaper Page Text
o
o
20 PAGES 2 SECTIONS PLUS INSERTS
The Commerce News
JEFFERSON, JACKSON COUNTY GEORGIA 30549 $1.00 COPY
Public safety
Kpadeh Jones
Third suspect
arrested in
connection
with shooting
death ofJHS
student
Gwinnett County author
ities have arrested a third
suspect in connection with
the 2022 murder of Elijah
DeWitt. DeWitt, who was
17 years old at the time,
was a standout football
player at Jefferson High
School.
Gwinnett County police
were called for a “person
shot call” on Oct. 5, 2022,
around 8:15 p.m. at Sug-
arloaf Mills Mall. They
found DeWitt deceased on
the ground in the parking
lot with gunshot wounds,
according to a news re
lease.
Two suspects were ar
rested in Anderson, S.C., a
couple days after the shoot
ing. Kemare Bryan, 18,
Lawrenceville, and Chan
dler Richardson, 19, Law
renceville, were charged
with felony murder, malice
murder, aggravated assault
and possession of a firearm
during the commission of
certain felonies.
On Wednesday, Nov. 15,
the Gwinnett County Sher
iff’s Office arrested a third
suspect in the case. Kpadeh
Jones, 19, Lawrencev
ille, was booked into the
Gwinnett County Jail and
charged with one count of
malice murder.
DeWitt was a standout
wide receiver for the JHS
Dragons football team.
Following his death,
there was an outpouring of
condolences and commu
nity support for DeWitt’s
family. Between 600-700
people — many were
students from Jefferson
High School and Prince
Avenue Christian School
where DeWitt had attend
ed school — packed the
church for DeWitt’s vigil in
2022, overflowing out the
doors.
MAILING LABEL
Commerce
Still ‘a lot of work to do’ on Commerce rec
By Alex Buffington
atex@mainstreetnews.com
Commerce voters nar
rowly approved a $13 mil
lion bond referendum for
a new city rec department
gymnasium, but city leaders
aren’t taking any action yet.
The Commerce City
Council voted on Monday,
Nov. 20, to certify the elec
tion results from the Nov.
7 election, which included
the bond referendum. Com
merce residents voted to ap
prove the bond referendum
in a narrow win, 484-468.
The move to certify the
election is a formality and
doesn’t mean the city has
voted to move forward with
issuing the bonds.
If the city moves forward
with the bond issuance, the
city’s millage rate could
nearly double. The current
millage rate is 4.36 mills.
Faced with the high cost
of building new facilities
and the cost of an expand
ed program, Commerce
leaders had previously dis
cussed turning the city’s
recreation department over
to the county to operate.
But that was met with
opposition by some in the
town who wanted to keep
the department as a city-op
erated service. After weeks
of discussions and public
meetings, the city council
decided to punt on making
a decision and put the issue
on the ballot in the form of a
bond referendum.
‘A LOT OF
WORK TO DO’
Mayor Clark Hill told a
packed room on Monday
that the council has a lot to
consider before taking any
action. He said they want
to take an additional look at
the impact the bond would
have on the city before
moving forward.
“This was in no way a
mandate,” Hill said. “The
community is very divided,
50/50 basically if you look
at the election results.”
Hill added that the council
has asked staff for updated
information on the cost of
the new gym and upgrades
to Ridling Field (which the
city has proposed convert
ing to a multi-purpose field).
City staff are also collecting
information on the ongoing
cost of operations and main
tenance of any new facility.
Hill encouraged the com
munity to be patient and
said a final decision could
take weeks or months.
PACKED ROOM
Commerce residents
packed the room at Monday
night’s meeting, many of
whom were wearing red to
show their opposition to the
bond.
One speaker, Mike Ed-
wardson, noted that some
residents won’t be able
to afford the tax increase,
See Commerce, page 2A
Braselton rings in holiday season
Photos by Ben Munro
Braselton’s holiday parade travels through downtown on Saturday (Nov. 18).
Santa rides atop a West Jackson Fire Department truck during Braselton’s
Saturday (Nov. 18) holiday parade.
Braselton’s Christmas tree is illuminated on Saturday (Nov. 18) at the end of
the town’s annual holiday celebration.
Churches
Many local Methodist
churches approved to
disaffiliate from UMC
The North Georgia Conference of the United Meth
odist Church voted to allow the disaffiliation of 261
churches, including a number in Northeast Georgia, at
its annual meeting last week in Athens.
The split is rooted in internal disagreements over
the church’s handling of LGBTQ issues among other
theological and cultural issues. Some of the disaffiliated
congregations plan to affiliate with new, more conserva
tive national church groups.
Among the 261 disaffiliations approved were the fol
lowing local congregations:
•New Prospect UMC Athens
•Young Harris Memorial UMC Athens
•Arbor Pointe UMC Hoschton
•Commerce First UMC
•Ebenezer UMC Jefferson
•Holly Springs UMC Jackson County
•Lebanon UMC Gillsville
•Midway UMC Gillsville
•Mt. Bethel UMC Commerce
•New Salem UMC
•Redstone UMC Jackson County
•The Vine UMC
Jackson BOC
B. Wilson Rd.
project unresolved
BOC fails to get
vote to approve or
deny plan for an
event center
By Mike Buffington
mike@mainstreetnews. com
The fate of a proposed
event venue on B. Wilson
Rd. in Commerce was left
up in the air this week fol
lowing a stalemate on the
Jackson County Board of
Commissioners.
At issue is a special use
zoning application from
Tracy and Janet Lott for
an event venue on 14 acres
at 1104 B. Wilson Rd. The
Lotts are in the process of
constructing a 4,200 sq. ft.
bam for an event center on
the property. The property
is zoned A-2 which allows
for event venues with a
special use permit.
But the proposal has
been met with a mixed
reaction from area resi
dents with some showing
support for the idea while
other neighbors spoke in
opposition. Of particu
lar concern was the short
distance to several houses
in the area and the close
ness to existing cattle op
erations on neighboring
pastures. Some neighbors
also questioned why the
bam was being construct
ed before a special use
permit had been obtained.
That mixed review
was also reflected in the
county’s reporting on the
See BOC, page 2A
14 14 0
